by Eileen Whalen, President and COO of University of Vermont Medical Center;Jill Berry Bowen, CEO of Northwestern Medical Center;Don George, CEO of Blue Cross / Blue Shield of Vermont;Todd Moore, CEO of OneCare Vermont.As leaders of large Vermont health care organizations we are tasked with the need to treat the sick and the infirm, to do so efficiently, and to provide high quality care. We accept that. But we need partners, and with those partners, we need to change the perception of public health being about sickness, to public health being about wellness.
Long term, there is no other way to provide quality care, at affordable costs, to all in need. This understanding has to be embraced as a state, and acted upon if we are to make suitable progress toward Vermont being not only a healthy state, but a prosperous one. Wellness is as much an economic development tool as affordability; in fact, it’s the twin side of the same coin. Here is what’s encouraging; the structure of that sought after partnership is already in place. It’s called RiseVT. It’s a community collaborative that has been in development for four years and implemented for the past two years in northwestern Vermont.
It’s an empirically-based collaborative that focuses on results, things that can be measured and built upon. A key partner for Rise VT has been the France-based EPODE (EnsemblePrévenons l'ObésitéDesEnfants)organization, which has spread to 29 nations with a proven record of driving down childhood obesity rates. This coming school year, that partnership will be on display as over 2,000 preK-middle school students from Franklin and Grand Isle Counties in collaboration with the health department will collect one simple measure (BMI), whichl will be useful to gauge improvement as the RiseVT program pursues its healthy lifestyles initiative.
Can you imagine the value of partnerships that would extend this data-based effort throughout all Vermont?
That’s the objective. Wellness – or public health – is something that has to be embraced at individual and community levels. It has to be promoted in specific settings, like schools, workplaces, residential areas, state and local government and, yes, hospitals. It has to be built into all policies if the eventual outcome – fewer people with chronic illnesses and the delayed onset of illness – is to be achieved. This is the only way to truly bend the cost curve for delivering healthcare.
Vermont is in an enviable position to get this done.
Consider state government as one of RiseVT’s most important partners. The Agency of Human Services – with former Green Mountain Care Board Chairman Al Gobeille at the helm – is the largest agency in state government and arguably in touch with more Vermonters, in a health care related way – than any other organization, with the possible exception of the state’s 13 hospitals.
And Mr. Gobeille, as GMCB chair, was RiseVT’s champion when it was brought before the board for funding. He gets it. He saw the need, and the opportunity, and with the support of the Green Mountain Care Board members, he urged the wellness campaign to be pushed to all corners of the state.
The promotion of public health is more pertinent today than it’s ever been; partly because of what’s termed the “triple burden of diseases”, meaning the ongoing battle against communicable diseases, newly emerging diseases, and the unprecedented rise of noncommunicable chronic diseases. It’s not debatable. The adverse effects of sedentary life styles, poor nutrition, poverty, addiction and social and mental well-being are taking an increasing toll.
What is essential is building enough trust in a wellness setting that individuals and communities are empowered to take actions to promote their own health. Our goal is to get to a point where health is not the objective of living, rather health is the resource for how we live our lives. Living healthy is the new norm. The difference is vast, and the opportunities that come with it, equally so.
To get there, we need partners. We need funding flexibility from the state as well as our private partners to put RiseVT in place for the greater good. It is a fraction of the price tag we are spending now to treat disease. Pennies spent now will save countless dollars later. It is time to invest in this future.
That’s the RiseVT promise.
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