Vermont Business Magazine Today, the UVM Health Network (UVMHN) announced its plans to shutter many essential patient care services around the state, including mental health care, primary care clinics, and dialysis centers. The decision comes on the heels of the Green Mountain Care Board’s order to reign in administrative and managerial bloat, citing data that UVMHN ranks among the worst in the nation in these areas when compared with similarly sized health networks.
Sue Becker, a 26-year nurse at CVMC, and Grievance Chair of the Union stated, “The plan for the closure of CVMC’s Inpatient Psychiatric unit will devastate mental health care in our community and throughout our organization. It’s an unacceptable decision. UVM Health Network and CVMC management are blaming the Green Mountain Care Board, however, this is the fault of executives and leaders who have failed to plan their budgets accordingly. We are not going to stand by and let this happen”
According to Deb Snell, the President of Nurse and Tech Union at UVMMC, “We have never been given a good answer as to how the Health Network has improved the quality of care at the member hospitals in Vermont and we have concerns that the Network is a net drain on providing the quality patient care that Vermonters deserve.”
“UVMHN Support Staff Workers are the most recently organized and the lowest paid workers in the network. While workers at Porter and UVMMC have won strong contracts with excellent raises, many of us still don’t earn a livable wage and struggle to afford our own healthcare. There is plenty of money to be cut from the Health Network budget to meet the Green Mountain Care Board’s insistence of fiscal responsibility– but it is from the administration’s line,” stated Heather Bauman, President of UVMMC-SSU United, the union representing more than 2000 employees at UMMC.
Community members are invited to sign the petition to stop the cuts: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-cuts-at-uvm-health-network
AFT Vermont represents more than 10,000 healthcare and higher education workers in Vermont, including more than 6000 nurses, techs and support staff in the UVM Health Network.
Source: November 11, 2024. AFT Vermont
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