Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH), Umbrella and the Lamoille Family Center are excited to announce the sub-award recipients of the 2025 Northeast Vermont Prevention Consortium – Prevention Lead Region 3. Priorities that these awards will address include reducing underage substance use as well as high-risk adult substance use, increasing supports for LGBTQIA+ youth and creating a community where youth and adults feel valued. Competitive and non-competitive sub-award recipients and descriptions are listed below.

Vermont Business Magazine A newly released report from Vermont Talent Pipeline Management (VTPM) underscores a current and growing crisis in the healthcare industry: the shortage of qualified healthcare technicians and technologists. The report, developed in partnership with 13 hospitals across the state, highlights critical workforce gaps and the urgent need for expanded access to healthcare education at the certificate and associate degree levels. According to the report, Vermont’s healthcare system is facing challenges filling positions that include radiological, surgical and medical lab technicians and technologists, respiratory therapists, and behavioral health technician roles. The shortage threatens the ability of healthcare facilities to provide timely and quality care, particularly in rural areas.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education announced the statewide launch of Read Vermont, a comprehensive initiative dedicated to improving student literacy outcomes. Building upon Act 139 of 2024, Read Vermont aims to ensure every child can read by third grade and develops the skills needed for success in school and beyond. Improving literacy is a top priority for Vermont's educators, legislators, and families. Act 139 marks the state’s most comprehensive literacy legislation to date and represents an exciting opportunity for Vermont students and educators. The legislation focuses on early identification and support for students struggling with reading, strengthens teacher preparation programs, and ensures parents and caregivers are informed of their child's progress.

Vermont Business Magazine The Albany Med Health System, together with InVita Healthcare Technologies (InVita), ConnectLife, and Center for Donation and Transplant (CDT), the federally designated OPO serving upstate New York and western Vermont, have united to successfully implement technology to streamline the organ and tissue donation process at Albany Medical Center. iReferral is advanced interoperability technology that allows the hospital's electronic medical record (EMR) platform, Epic, to deliver direct and secure electronic notification of patients who have met criteria for organ and tissue donation to its OPO's EMR System, iTransplant, provided by InVita.

Vermont Business Magazine Ahead of next week's hearing with Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jørgensen, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), today announced that CEOs of major generic pharmaceutical companies are willing to sell Ozempic to Americans for less than $100 per month at a profit. Novo Nordisk currently charges Americans with Type 2 diabetes $969 a month for Ozempic, while this same exact drug can be purchased for just $155 in Canada, $122 in Denmark, and just $59 in Germany. Incredibly, Novo Nordisk also charges Americans with obesity $1,349 a month for Wegovy, while this same exact product can be purchased for just $186 in Denmark, $140 in Germany, and $92 in the United Kingdom.

Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center MFG Day makes a big impact in shifting the misconception of modern manufacturing. Tell your story by opening your doors and hosting an event with students, parents, educators, media, community leaders and elected officials. Registering your event contributes to the larger MFG Day phenomenon in a major way. The more events we know about, the more people we can say we’ve affected — which inspires more interest in manufacturing.  

by Bill Schubart So, to envision and create effective change in our healthcare system, we must be honest with ourselves about the challenges and opportunities that deter or impel strategic change. Challenges include: Ineffective nonprofit board governance: Hospital boards (as well as many other nonprofit boards) rarely seem to understand that they’re ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the institutions they govern. The president or executive director serves solely at the will of the board, which oversees the leader’s hiring, firing, compensation, and does an annual 360 performance review based on his or her effective delivery on mission. UVMHN is one of the most expensive academic medical centers in the country. 

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine For the week ending September 7, the Vermont Department of Health reported that the number of COVID-19 cases in Vermont finally declined after several weeks of increasing cases. Hospitalizations also saw fewer visits, but COVID-related deaths in August were at their highest level since January. COVID fatalities increased by 4 in the last week and are at 1,190 since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The weekly report also shows that hospitalizations and general "syndromic" cases have declined to just over 15 people being treated at a Vermont hospital each week. At the beginning of the summer there were only about 5 but had been spiking to over 20 over the last month. The number of COVID cases fell for the first time since the end of June.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) convened health care leaders in Williston to discuss the impact of Medicare reimbursement cuts on small and independent health care providers and businesses in Vermont, many of which are already struggling to provide care to seniors in rural communities. Senator Welch recently introduced the bipartisan Physician Fee Stabilization Act, which updates a Medicare budget threshold last adjusted in 1992 that is triggering harmful cuts to provider payments. This change will ensure rural care providers are fairly reimbursed by the government for the care they provide to seniors.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Art Council announces the 22 recipients of its most competitive grant funding program, the Creation Grant, which supports Vermont artists in creating new work. Among this year’s winning proposals are works that span visual arts, literary arts, music, film, and multidisciplinary fields, including a Vermont-set rock opera; a podcast exploring themes of religion and belief; and a multi-disciplinary sculptural installation exploring our relationship with technology. More than 200 applications were received for the award, with a total of more than $1 million requested in funding. The program was able to support 11% of the requested need. Grants are awarded to Vermont artists or artist groups in amounts up to $5,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Over 300 Porter Medical Center (PMC) support staff, licensed practical nurses, and technical professionals ratified their first union contract late Saturday night, voting to accept a tentative agreement reached the week before between management and the union’s bargaining team. Earlier this year, the healthcare workers voted to form a union, joining their registered nurse (RN) colleagues at PMC who first organized in 2013. Contract negotiations with management have been ongoing since June. The new union members will join the RNs as members of Porter Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals, an affiliate of AFT Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Health based in Rutland is a recipient of the Health Center Quality Leader Gold Award, ranking among the top 10% of the Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) nationally. The federal Community Health Center Program, under the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), recognizes quality care each year, ranking Community Health at the highest level as a Gold Health Center Quality Leader and awarding additional badges for Health Information Technology (HIT) and Addressing Social Risk Factors.