Tuesday, April 23, 2019
The bulk of those costs are part of an effort to prevent “wage compression,” which happens when the lowest-paid employees at an organization receive a raise but employees making slightly more do not.
Analysts say wage compression can put businesses in a pinch as middle-level staff who aren’t subject to the minimum wage increase demand raises of their own or seek other jobs.
The legislation, S.23, doesn’t require private-sector employers to take measures to avoid wage compression, but a proposed amendment would require home health agencies and other Medicaid-funded employers to do so.
Tags: minimum wage , $15 minimum wage , wage compression , Medicaid , legislature , Tom Stevens , Joyce Manchester , health care , nurse , personal care attendant , hospice , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
The toxins in the groundwater were discovered in early 2016 in private drinking wells near a defunct manufacturing plant once operated by the company Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics. Gov. Phil Scott announced Wednesday that the company has agreed to pay millions of dollars to extend municipal water lines to 245 homes on the east side of Bennington.
State taxpayers will pay about $4.7 million to extend municipal water lines up sparsely populated roads on the outskirts of town, officials said, but Saint-Gobain’s contribution could be as much as $20 million.
Agency of Natural Resources Deputy Secretary Peter Walke said the company has also agreed to pay for ongoing PFOA monitoring in Bennington-area drinking water and to pay for treatment systems and new wells for about 20 residences where municipal water lines won’t reach.
Tags: PFOA , clean water , water quality , contamination , pollution , toxics , toxic liability , Phil Scott , Dick Sears , TJ Donovan , Peter Walke , Bennington , St. Gobain , Saint-Gobain , teflon , Web Only , Image
Monday, March 25, 2019
The Senate has approved legislation that would require lead testing at all schools and childcare facilities and would mandate plumbing work at any schools with lead levels higher than three parts per billion. The Senate also approved $2.5 million to fund the tests and half the costs of replacing any faucets.
The legislature's urgency is due in part to a 2018 Agency of Education pilot program that tested water at 16 schools. Of the 900 faucets and fountains checked, 27 had lead levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's limit of 15 parts per billion. In response, Gov. Phil Scott called on the legislature to act quickly to expand the program statewide.
House Education chair Kate Webb (D-Shelburne) said Monday that her committee fully supports lead reduction, but its members have concerns about the Senate plan. The House panel is working this week on the bill that the Senate passed and could make significant changes.
“What we’re finding in hearing from facilities managers is that some of the assumptions that [Senators] made … are not always accurate,” Webb said.
Tags: drinking water , lead , toxins , lead poisoning , schools , day care , childcare , poison , Web Only , Image
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Sen. Debbie Ingram (D-Chittenden) said the bill was designed to reduce smoking rates, noting that most people don’t take up smoking after their 21st birthday.
“Only 5 percent of smokers smoking now started smoking after the age of 21,” Ingram said.
Tags: smoking , tobacco , dip , vape , e cig , cigarettes , Debbie Ingram , 21 , smoking age , Juul , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Tampa, Fla.-based company Greenway Health will forfeit $57.25 million to the U.S. government, the second-largest monetary recovery ever in the District of Vermont, U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan said Wednesday during a press conference announcing the settlement.
Greenway's alleged fraud is very similar to a 2017 case prosecuted by the district against another electronic health records provider, eClinicalWorks, that was resolved through the largest-ever recovery, a $155 million settlement.
Tags: electronic health records , U.S. Attorney , District of Vermont , Greenway Health , medicare fraud , Christina Nolan , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
The nonprofit organization provides support for those in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. It's in the process of purchasing the building, at the intersection of King Street and South Winooski Avenue, from the Champlain Housing Trust for $850,000, according to the center's executive director, Gary De Carolis.
It's about 60 percent larger than the former location above Phoenix Books on Bank Street, De Carolis said. The center has already completed $350,000 worth of renovations, building an art studio, spaces for yoga and meetings, offices, and a kitchen. Turning Point's 14 staff and roughly 30 volunteers moved into the space last month.
Tags: Senator , Miro Weinberger , Bernie Sanders , Mark Levine , Gary De Carolis , Peter Welch , Madelyn Linsenmeir , Turning Point Center , Web Only , Image
Friday, January 4, 2019
Officials say it's unusual for the University of Vermont Medical Center to see more than one or two such cases on a busy night.
The spate of overdoses, likely opioid related, prompted an afternoon press conference attended by Health Commissioner Mark Levine and UVM Medical Center president Eileen Whalen.
"It's only January 4, and we've already seen multiple overdoses in a short period of time," Levine said.
Tags: Burlington , drugs , Eileen Whalen , Mark Levine , opiates , Opioid Crisis , opioids , overdose , University of Vermont Medical Center , Image , Web Only
Friday, November 9, 2018
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan said Allenwood at Pillsbury Manor and Pillsbury Manor South, both in South Burlington, and Homestead at Pillsbury in St. Albans were in control of a receiver tasked with stabilizing the homes’ finances and keeping them open.
“When you talk about running out of food, that’s when you gotta step in and protect people,” Donovan said. “And that’s what we did.”
Tags: Andrew White , TJ Donovan , East Lake Capital Management , Allenwood , Homestead at Pillsbury , Pillsbury Manor South , St. Albans , South Burlington , elder care , independent living , Monica Hutt , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
At a September 20 legislative hearing, Vermont's chief health care advocate, Michael Fisher, questioned what had happened to $2.2 million that the state paid the contractor, Centurion, in fiscal year 2017. Lawmakers got the impression that Centurion had pocketed the money as profit, which Department of Corrections officials in the room didn't dispute.
But that was not the case, according to Gobeille. The secretary wasn’t at the hearing, but he later told lawmakers that Centurion spent the $2.2 million on other health care expenses. “There’s no missing money,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to think that we paid for a bunch of pharmaceuticals that never got used.”
Fisher raised the money issue while discussing a lack of hepatitis C treatment in Vermont prisons. “Our chief concern is that inmates are getting the care that they need,” Fisher said. Gobeille’s explanation “doesn’t satisfy the concern.”
Centurion did retain about $450,000 in profit in 2017 and received about $2 million to cover corporate overhead costs, according to Gobeille. In the context of the roughly $20 million contract, “I don’t think that’s exorbitant by any respect,” he said.
Tags: Al Gobeille , Dick Sears , hepatitis C , Department of Corrections , health care , Image , Web Only
Friday, September 28, 2018
"This has been a long and difficult road for all of us, and we are extremely proud of what we have accomplished," said Molly Wallner, lead negotiator for the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals. "We have shown the hospital, our community, and ourselves what we are capable of. "
The agreement gives nurses a 16 percent salary increase over the next three years. Some nurses will get raises of up to 30 percent.
Roughly 1,100 of the 1,800 nurses in the union cast votes, Wallner said, and 70 percent of them favored ratification. Negotiators had reached a tentative agreement on September 19.
Tags: University of Vermont Medical Center , nurses , strike , Molly Wallner , union , labor , Image , Web Only