Current News

Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Board of Trustees elected three new members at the Board’s spring meeting on March 20, 2015. Troyen A (“Troy”) Brennan, MD, MPH; M. Brooke Herndon, MD, MS; and Charles G (“Charlie”) Plimpton were unanimously elected to the 20-member volunteer board, joining colleagues from around the nation as well as from the Upper Valley in the leadership of New Hampshire’s largest health system.

“We are delighted and honored to welcome Troy, Brooke, and Charlie to our board,” said D-H Trustees Chair Robert Oden, PhD. “Their experience, and their passion for health care and for Dartmouth-Hitchcock make them all welcome additions. I look forward to their leadership as we continue to chart the future of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock system, creating a sustainable health system to improve the lives of the people and communities we serve for generations to come.”

The Brattleboro Retreat received a Governor’s Excellence in Worksite Wellness award at the 2015 Worksite Wellness conference held on Wednesday, March 25, at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center in Burlington. The award, which is presented by the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, was given in recognition of the Retreat’s efforts to promote employee health and wellness.

The Retreat has a robust Wellness Program that has supported its approximately 870 employees in focusing on areas including personal goal setting, stress management, nutrition, and physical exercise.

“The overarching goal of the Retreat’s Wellness Program is to support the hospital’s employees in creating a healthy balance in their lives,” said Natalie Audette, benefits manager. “We started by surveying staff to better understand their needs, and the results have helped guide the kind of training and education we offer. I think this has been a key to our program’s success.”

With an initial gift from Board of Trustees member Bill Conaty and his wife, Sue, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health care system proudly announces the formation of a new institute dedicated to developing health care leaders who can help create the future model of care - a sustainable health system. The Conaty Institute for Transformational Health Care Leadership will deliver programs aimed at current and future executive leaders to learn about the constantly evolving state of health care delivery, and how to inspire and manage teams with vision, inspiration, and emotional and social respect for others.

With over 1,500 Vermonters without housing on any given night and families with children now making up half of all people in emergency shelters, Governor Peter Shumlin and Human Services Secretary Hal Cohen today announced a statewide strategy for ending child and family homelessness in Vermont by 2020. The governor and secretary made the announcement while celebrating a grant of more than a half-million dollars to rehabilitate and increase the number affordable housing units in Chittenden County, helping to relieve a shortage that affects all of those who face homelessness.

“Even with serious budget challenges, we are fortunate in Vermont to have many of the programs and partnerships already in place to support an ambitious initiative,” Shumlin said. “We can build on these foundations to achieve the goal of ending childhood and family homelessness by 2020.”

Twenty-four Vermont Agriculture and Forest Products businesses will receive financial assistance to attend trade shows as part of Vermont’s new Trade Show Assistance grant program. A total of $25,000 in matching funds was awarded. The Vermont Agencies of Agriculture, Food, and Markets (VAAFM) and Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) announced the winners today.

Thirty-four grant applications were received for a total request of $45,916. Of those, twenty-four grantees were selected to receive $25,500 in grant funds, leveraging an additional $93,000 in private investment. Grant recipients will attend 15 different trade shows in 10 different states. Selections were made by a review committee consisting of state agency staff and representatives of the forestry, specialty food, and dairy sectors.

Rolls-Royce, based in London, England, has today announced the acquisition of ROV Technologies, Inc, a Brattleboro-Vermont-based business primarily providing nuclear utility operators with remote visual inspection services for Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) and Pressurised Water Reactors (PWR). The plant and its 45 employees are expected to remain in place. Terms of the deal were not released.

Jason Smith, Rolls-Royce President-Nuclear, said: “The acquisition of ROV Technologies, Inc underlines our commitment to developing a nuclear business that meets customers’ needs for improved equipment reliability and outage performance over the operational and extended lifetime of their plant.

The University of Vermont fared well in two recently released college rankings. CNN Money ranked it 22nd among public colleges for its four-year graduation rate and USA Today rated it one of the ten best schools for students interested in the health professions. Graduating within four years, CNN Money says, is key to keeping the cost of college down. While only one-third of public college students earn their degrees in four years, 65 percent of UVM students graduate in that timeframe.

Green Mountain Power has installed its third community scale wind turbine at the Nea-Tocht farm in Ferrisburgh. The Nea-Tocht farm is owned by the VanderWey family who milk 250 dairy cows. The family says the clean energy generated from their new wind turbine will save them $2,200 a year on electricity.

“Generating local power fits perfectly into our farm’s mission of growing local food,” said Raymond VanderWey, who owns Nea-Tocht farm, along with his wife, Linda and sons Howard and Sidney. “We are so pleased to partner with GMP to install this turbine that is not only a beautiful addition to our farm, but will help our bottom line. The name of our farm, Nea-Tocht is Dutch for ‘never thought’ and it’s fitting today because we never thought we’d be milking our cows with renewable energy, but we sure are glad to be.”

Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR) and Reily Foods Company, New Orleans, LA, announced an exclusive multi-year manufacturing and distribution agreement for New England brand coffee, New Orleans Famous French Market Since 1890 brand coffee, and Luzianne brand iced tea pods for Keurig hot brewing systems in the United States and Canada. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"Consumers consistently choose the Keurig brewing system for its quality, simplicity, and unsurpassed variety, with over 400 varieties from 60 brands available in the system," said John Whoriskey, president, U.S. sales and marketing at Keurig. "We welcome Reily Foods as a partner and look forward to offering Keurig consumers their favorite New England coffee, French Market coffee, and Luzianne iced teas made with the quality and consistency of Keurig."

On March 9, 2015, New England Federal Credit Union’s (NEFCU) Senior Marketing Executive, Cindy Morgan, presented a symbolic “big check” for $27,058 to Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) representatives at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital. NEFCU members and staff contributed to the record-breaking donation as part of the annual Big Change Roundup.

Cindy Morgan, NEFCU Senior Marketing Executive, with CMN participants

On March 30, 2015 at 0605 hours Trooper Ben Barton was operating a 2010 Ford Crown Victoria State Police cruiser on the US Route 7 northbound on ramp in Sunderland. While traveling up the ramp, a vehicle traveling southbound on Route 7 lost control and crossed the center line. It was snowing and the road was slippery, according to the VSP report. The vehicle crossed the northbound lane and a grass area before continuing down the off ramp in Trooper Barton's path of travel. Trooper Barton veered to the right and avoided a head-on collision but was struck on the driver's side rear door and fender.

by Joe Carelli, President, Citizens Bank New Hampshire and Vermont You've spent most of your life building your business. There have been highs and lows over the years. Now, you’ve made it through the recent recession and your business is humming again. With nearly 8,000 US baby boomers turning 65 every day, it may be your time to step back and retire. Or maybe it’s time to consider making an acquisition, but you worry about the impact a deal will have on employees and customers whom you care deeply about.

It’s important to remember that you’re not alone.

An improving economy and the retirement plans of baby boomers are two of the driving forces behind merger-and-acquisition activity this year, according to a recent Citizens Commercial Banking survey.

Still, we’re talking about big – often once-in-a-lifetime – decisions.