Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Employers looking to create or improve a workplace wellness program can apply for a financial boost from the Vermont Department of Health. The Health Department is offering grants of $3,000 to six worksites around the state to build sustainable wellness programs that focus on increasing physical activity and healthy eating opportunities for employees. The grants are supported through the department’s Local Health Offices.

Because of limited funding, the department alternates which areas of the state are eligible for a grant each year. This year, worksites with between five to 100 employees in the Local Health service areas of Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Middlebury, Morrisville and Newport are eligible to apply. The other regions were eligible in 2016.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott has issued Executive Order 13-17, forming the Vermont Interagency Committee on Chemical Management. The committee is charged with reviewing State chemical regulation and policies to ensure compliance and further reduce risks posed by the use or storage of unsafe chemicals. The committee will incorporate the expertise of State agencies and outside experts who will participate in the citizen advisory panel.

Vermont Business MagazineHow do you help a homeowner who has lived in the same community for more than 50 years feel comfortable in a 49-unit apartment building? Can building design help convey that downsizing doesn’t mean sacrificing privacy and autonomy but enjoying new opportunities in a vibrant neighborhood? These are the questions Project Architect Heidi Davis and Principal David Roy of Weimann Lamphere Architects (WLA) asked themselves when designing Gifford’s new Independent Living facility at Morgan Orchards Senior Living Community in Randolph Center (openingAugust 15, 2017).

Vermont Business Magazine E4H Environments for Health Architecture, a top-ranked architecture firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, has been selected to design Ellis Medicine’s Facility Master Plan. Ellis Medicine, which features a 438-bed hospital in Schenectady, NY, will study siting solutions for the reorganization of the entire campus. Following a recent Emergency Department expansion and addition of a new parking structure at Ellis Hospital, Ellis Medicine issued a Request for Proposals for a Facility Master Plan to identify how it should evolve to meet changing healthcare needs and requirements, specifically on its main campus. E4H Architecture was selected for its deep healthcare experience, collaborative planning process,and Lean operational mindset.

by Sena Meilleur I had a conversation with a client recently about the rising cost of health care. This CFO, like many, has seen his health plan costs go up every year, and like many, his first instinct was to blame the insurance company. We discussed how the lion’s share of his costs is actually his plans’ claims, and because of the way we pay providers, costs increase every year with no end in sight. Our current fee-for-service model pays providers for every service they perform, meaning the more they do the more they get paid. And since there are no regulations around what a provider can charge, the fees get higher every year. There is no other product or service we pay for in quite this way. “We have to change the way we pay providers,” I said to the CFO. “What other way is there?” he asked.

Vermont Business MagazineSouthern Vermont College (SVC) is pleased to announce that the College’s 2017 pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates had a 100% first-time pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). The NCLEX is the national standardized examination required for nurses to receive a license to practice their profession.

SVC’s cumulative first-time pass rate for the 2016 and 2017 pre-licensure BSN classes is 94.4%, surpassing the 2016 national average of 84.5% and the 2015 Vermont average of 84%.

Vermont Business MagazineBrattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) was recently granted a Gold Standard of accreditation by the American College of Radiology (ACR) for quality and safety. This is a continuation of the department’s accreditation for another three years.The ACR Gold Standard of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Parameters and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field.

Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs are assessed.

The findings are reported to the ACR Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the department with a comprehensive report that can be used for continuous practice improvement.

Vermont Business Magazine Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health system (D-H) moves into the future today, as Joanne M Conroy, MD, begins her tenure as CEO and President of New Hampshire’s only academic health system.

Vermont Business MagazineGreen Mountain Power is warning customers about a bill payment phone scam that threatens customers with disconnectionwithin 15 minutesif they do not pay immediately. In a new wave of calls today, customers received calls claiming to be from GMP and giving the customer a fake toll-free number to call, which is answered by a recording claiming to be Green Mountain Power.

These calls are not from GMP and customers should hang up if they receive any call with these demands, and call GMP at888-835-4672if they have any payment questions.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont National Guard will have increased flying operations throughout the Vermont, New Hampshire and Vermont to accomplish their annual training requirements from August 7-10. The expected flying times on these days are from 8 am- 5 pm.

Vermont Business MagazineECFiber released its 2018 construction plans today, identifying Braintree, Brookfield, Granville, Hancock, Rochester, and Stockbridge as the six towns whose homes and businesses will get access to a fiber-optic based internet connection in 2018. ECFiber will also build some mileage in Woodstock to initiate service there and to improve connectivity between West Windsor, Reading, and the rest of its network.

Vermont Business MagazineSeeking to expand the applications of computational, social and data science, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) announced today that it is providing the University of Vermont (UVM) $500,000 to fund an innovative pilot program within the university’s Vermont Complex Systems Center. It will create a new doctoral fellowship, support faculty research and hire a visual data artist-in-residence.