Current News

Fletcher Allen has been selected for the National Kidney Registry’s (NKR) Excellence in Teamwork award to honor its participation in the world’s 2nd longest kidney “swap” procedure chain last year. In most swaps, as in this one, it starts with a living donor whose kidney is not a good match for a loved one in need. That donor offers a kidney to the NKR with the promise that their loved one will get one in return from another donor in the same situation. The Registry finds as many matches as possible until the chain cannot be continued. In some cases the first donor has no intended recipient and is just doing it out of generosity.

Meeting this complicated challenge in last year’s swap resulted in 19 top centers providing lifesaving transplants for 28 people, 10 of whom were very difficult to match. This chain was also completed in the shortest period of time to date for such a large number of patients.

by Laura Krantz vtdigger.org Governor Peter Shumlin lit a firecracker as the legislative session began this year when he made opiate addiction his top priority.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Hospital budget instructions from the Green Mountain Care Board released this month allow Vermont’s 14 hospitals to increase spending by 3 percent. The increase represents roughly $66 million. The instructions allow for an additional 0.8 percent increase for “health care reform investment” — or projects — that dovetail with Vermont’s health care reform agenda. The costs for those projects are not included in the $66 million. The overall increase would mean roughly $2.7 billion in total spending for the hospital system.

Gifford Medical Center in Randolph has been named among the nation’s top 100 performing Critical Access Hospitals by iVantage Health Analytics. iVantage has developed what it calls a Hospital Strength INDEX and for 2014 measured 1,246 Critical Access Hospitals across the nation on 66 different performance metrics, including quality, patient outcomes and satisfaction, affordability, population health and hospital financial strength.

After weighing all of those factors, Gifford for 2014 has been named among the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in the nation – meaning it does well in a variety of areas as compared to its peers.

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) on Monday said that President Obama will nominate Vermont Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Crawford to be the next judge on Vermont’s US District Court.

Leahy had recommended Justice Crawford in March to the White House, after screening by a nine-member nonpartisan Vermont Judicial Nominating Commission. Justice Crawford had been one of the panel’s two finalists, who then were interviewed by Leahy.

Leahy said, “The President sees in Justice Crawford what I, the members of the merit commission, and all Vermonters have come to know about him. He is a fine jurist in the finest Vermont tradition, and he is committed to the highest standards of public service. I look forward soon to bringing Justice Crawford before the Judiciary Committee for a confirmation hearing.”

Attorney General William Sorrell has issued guidance concerning the contribution limits applicable to candidates who do not run in a primary. For the most part, the clarification affects independent candidates and those nominated by a minor political party through the caucus process. The Attorney General’s policy stems from his Office’s examination of the impact of the Legislature’s passage of Act 90, the law that revised Vermont’s campaign finance laws.

While the law that goes into effect in January 2015 sets contribution limits per general election cycle, the law in effect through December 2014 sets limits “per election.” This approach leads to lower contribution limits for independent candidates who do not have a primary, as opposed to major party candidates who run in both a primary and general election.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy formally opened the renovated Bentley Hall today following Green Mountain College’s 177^th commencement ceremony last Saturday. The Queen Anne-Colonial Revival house, built in 1900 and historically known as the CW Humphrey House, recently underwent substantive renovations. The college-owned building will serve as a join community center for the town of Poultney and the college. The project recently won a 2014 Preservation Trust of Vermont award for creative repurposing of a historic building.

The grand house at the northeast corner of Bentley and College Street in Poultney is remembered variously as a private home, a residence for women faculty, a college dormitory and a dean’s residence.

The 2014 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence were recognized May 14 at a ceremony in Burlington. Environmental excellence awards have been given since 1993 to recognize efforts and actions of Vermonters to conserve and protect natural resources, prevent pollution, and promote environmental sustainability. To date, more than 200 efforts have been recognized. Thsi year's awards were presented by Justin Johnson, Deputy Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources.

“These projects contribute significantly to Vermont’s environmental quality and encourage others to take similar actions to protect our resources,” said ANR Secretary Deb Markowitz when she announced the recipients earlier this year. “They demonstrate the importance of innovation and partnerships in enhancing and sustaining Vermont’s environmental quality.

FairPoint Communications and the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET) today announced the creation of a new collaborative called VCET @ BTV, a co-working space coupled with business mentoring and networking opportunities for promising startup companies in the FairPoint Technology Hub in downtown Burlington.

The RE/MAX of New England April Monthly Housing Report shows that Vermont homes sales and median price were both down in April. Meanwhile, pending home sales in New England are up on average 15.4 percent over April 2013. Inventory in every state except Vermont shows a decrease year-over-year. Overall home sales in New England show an increase of 14.4 percent month-over-month, an expected trend in the spring market.

In Connecticut, the number of total transactions is down -7.5 percent year-over-year and median price decreased -2.7 percent. Pending sales were up 27.5 percent year-over-year, the highest in the region.

Green Mountain Power is offering free public tours of the 21 turbine Kingdom Community Wind project in Lowell, Vermont during June, July and August. This is an opportunity to experience an operating wind farm, and learn how GMP is harnessing the power of wind to generate enough electricity to power 24,000 homes.

“Green Mountain Power is thrilled to once again offer these free tours to the public,” said GMP CEO and President Mary Powell. “Connecting Vermonters directly to the energy used to power their state is just one important way we continue to our work to deliver cost effective, clean and reliable power.”

Each tour lasts approximately 90 minutes, and includes a visit to two of the turbines. The tours are free, but advance registration is required.