Current News

Today, Fletcher Allen Partners named John R. Brumsted, M.D., as president and chief executive officer, Fletcher Allen Health Care, effective immediately. Dr Brumsted has been serving as the organization’s interim president and chief executive officer since the departure of Melinda Estes, MD, this past August. Dr Brumsted, 59, will also serve as the president and chief executive officer of Fletcher Allen Partners. Fletcher Allen Partners is an integrated delivery system comprising Fletcher Allen Health Care and Central Vermont Medical Center.
The national search for a new CEO began last August and concluded with the decision last Friday afternoon.

Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources Climate Change Team today released ‘Lessons from Irene: Building Resiliency as We Rebuild,’ an interdisciplinary look at Irene’s many impacts and challenges. Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, Deb Markowitz said, ‘Climate data shows that Vermont is experiencing more extreme rain events, and because of this we can expect to see more frequent flooding. This is why it is so important for us to learn from Irene so that our communities can be better prepared for future floods.’

by Ed BarnaLooking at all the medical services grouped under the holding company Rutland Regional Health Services’including the state’s second-largest hospital’it’s hard to imagine conditions back in 1896 when the state’s second hospital began operations.
It took six years for an invalid’s charitable bequest to go from vision to reality, for lack of the $5,000 to build one. The first location was a donated home, which had been a nursing home; four doctors ran the 10-room facility, which had one telephone and one bathroom.
It wasn’t until 1956 that the original in-town location was succeeded by a four-story, 155-bed structure, on outlying farmland. The transition to today’s comprehensive range of services might be said to have come in the early 1980s, when the hospital’s board of directors renamed it the Rutland Regional Medical Center and set up the holding company.

by Pat Parenteau, Vermont Law School I’ve been on the fence about whether Vermont should appeal Judge Murtha’s decision by the Feb. 21 deadline. Even though there are plenty of reasons to question the decision, there is no guarantee Vermont could win an appeal and there is some risk of making a bad situation worse from the state’s point of view.
Vermont did win an important victory when Judge Murtha rejected Entergy’s show-stopper claim that the Federal Power Act preempts any form of state regulation over merchant power plants and that the Public Service Board (PSB) lacks any power to require a new certificate of public good (CPG).

Vermont and 10 other states sued in federal court today to force the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt more protective national air quality standards for fine particulate matter, also known as "soot" or "PM 2.5," pollution.The Clean Air Act and a 2009 federal court order require EPA to adopt more protective soot standards.
"Although EPA has taken steps to address air pollution in recent years, Vermont can not overlook its failure to adopt more protective standards for fine particulate matter or soot," said Attorney General William H. Sorrell. "It is well-established that this pollution is especially harmful to children, senior citizens, and people with existing lung and heart conditions. It is clear that exposure to fine particulates can cause serious health problems, including chronic respiratory illness, decreased lung function, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and premature death."

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) has closed the historic Scott Bridge in the Town of Townshend. A recent inspection led to the recommendation that the covered bridge be closed to all traffic, including pedestrians. Primarily a tourist destination since Tropical Storm Irene, the bridge has been used as a school bus drop-off point and pedestrian crossing due to the closure of the nearby Townshend Dam Road.
‘We understand the disruption this closure is going to cause the neighbors who have been using the bridge during the road closure,’ said Transportation Secretary Brian Searles. ‘But public safety is our first responsibility and when a report recommends closure, we must act upon that recommendation.’
The bridge is owned by the Division for Historic Preservation and has been closed to vehicular traffic for many years. The Town of Townshend is working to replace a destroyed culvert and reopen Townshend Dam Road.

by Alan Panebaker vtdigger.orgLegislation that would require utilities to purchase green energy will go back to the drawing board, according the chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Energy.
The bill, H.468, would have required utilities to purchase 80 percent of their power from qualifying renewable sources in 2025.
The bill set out ambitious goals for utilities, but after weeks of testimony, the second draft eased these qualifications by requiring 75 percent renewables by 2032. Thirty-five percent of those would have to come from ‘new’ generation that came online after Dec. 31, 2004.
That draft, Rep. Tony Klein, D-E. Montpelier, said, is history.

Gifford Medical Center has been awarded a $35,000 grant from the Avon Breast Health Outreach Program to increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of early detection of breast cancer.
The Avon Breast Health Outreach Program (BHOP) supports community-based, non-profit breast health programs across the country and is part of the Avon Foundation for Women, the largest corporate philanthropy dedicated to women’s causes globally.
This is the 11thconsecutive year that Gifford’s Breast Health Program has received funding from the Foundation, resulting in a more than $415,000 investment regionally to increase awareness of the life saving benefits of mammograms and clinical breast exams.
The only Vermont recipient, Gifford was selected as one of 120 grantees nationwide. Organizations like Gifford are chosen based on their ability to effectively reach women, particularly minority, low-income and older women, who are often medically underserved.

by Kevin Kelley Vermont Business MagazineBased on State Street in Montpelier for the past 184 years, the Vermont Mutual Insurance Group is ‘part of the fabric’ of the state, says its president and CEO, Thomas Tierney.
And in keeping with what he describes as ‘the Vermont culture,’ the company ‘goes above and beyond in meeting the needs of neighbors,’ Tierney suggests. He offers the example of Vermont Mutual's response to the damage that Tropical Storm Irene inflicted on many of the company's policyholders.
‘We've tried to put Vermonters back to where they were before their losses. A lot of the losses our clients suffered were not covered because they were victims of flooding,’ Tierney notes. ‘But even though we didn't pay them, we did help them throughout the recovery by putting them in touch with FEMA and others who could assist.’
Vermont Mutual continues to do well as it does good.

by Alan Panebaker vtdigger.orgThe Shumlin administration’s proposed health insurance exchange is being criticized by both ends of the political spectrum.
Single-payer advocates worry the governor’s proposal will reduce the availability of federal tax credits for individuals and leave more people with inferior health insurance through high-deductible ‘bronze’ plans.
Businesses say all companies should be allowed to opt out of the state’s health insurance exchange.
Shawn Shouldice, director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said it’s unfair for the state to exempt large businesses while requiring smaller ones to buy insurance in the exchange.
Companies with 51 to 100 employees are getting an exemption from a state mandate to participate in the exchange, while businesses with 50 or fewer are required to buy health insurance on the exchange starting in 2014.

For the first time, Martin’s Point Health Care is offering in-person customer service to military families in the Burlington area. Denise Luck, health benefits specialist, will now be available to counsel local military beneficiaries on their health care options. Denise is a Registered Professional Nurse and brings with her more than 13 years of experience in assisting military members and their families with their TRICARE benefits.

Vermont’s independent colleges and universities annually pump nearly $1.4 billion into the state economy and attract 14,000 out-of-state students who spend their college savings in Vermont, according to a recent study by the Association of Vermont Independent Colleges (AVIC).
‘Vermont would be poorer without its private colleges ‘ more than a billion dollars poorer,’ said Susan Stitely, president of AVIC. ‘Our additional benefit is the first-rate education delivered to students served by these schools and the high number of degrees that are relevant to the needs of Vermont employers.’
Conferring more than half the degrees in Vermont, independent higher education also provides nearly 6,300 campus-based jobs throughout the state. These jobs account for $314 million in wages and benefits paid annually to employees and place private higher education among the top ten employers for Vermont.