Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Dartmouth-Hitchcock on December 14 sent a letter to the Green Mountain Care Board arguing that the proposal should not trigger a permit review. The letter specifically seeks a "non-jurisdictional" ruling from the board to affirm that it agrees with the hospital's interpretation of the law.
The board has not responded or discussed the request but will do so within 30 days, board spokesman Conor Kennedy said Tuesday.
Tags: University of Vermont Medical Center , helipad , helicopter , UVM , Green Mountain Care Board , Tristram Coffin , DHART , Image , Web Only
Monday, December 18, 2017
Updated at 2:26 p.m.
Twenty-nine terminally ill Vermonters have ended their own lives with help from a doctor in the more than four years since the state legalized the practice, according to a new report from the state Department of Health.
The report covers all cases between May 31, 2013 and June 30, 2017, and includes information about the terminal diagnoses patients had in order to qualify for a life-ending prescription.
According to the department, there were 52 cases in which patients met the requirements for physician-assisted suicide during that period. In 43 of those cases, cancer was the terminal diagnosis. Another seven were related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and two cases involved another diagnosis.
Tags: Peter Shumlin , end of life , Maggie Lake , Annette Vachon , Department of Health , Image , Web Only
Friday, November 10, 2017
Two months before the murders, Jody Herring was deemed a "threat to herself and others," and a psychiatrist recommended that she spend 90 days undergoing involuntary psychiatric treatment. But she was released from the hospital after less than a week in what her attorney calls a "failure" of the mental health system.
On what would have been day 68 of a 90-day hospital stay, Herring gunned down DCF worker Lara Sobel in downtown Barre. Three of her own relatives — her aunt, Julie Falzarano, and cousins Regina Herring and Rhonda Herring — were later found shot to death in Berlin.
"If Rutland Regional Medical Center and the Vermont Attorney General's Office had done the right thing, Jody Herring would have been locked up involuntarily in a psychiatric facility, in Rutland, Vermont, on [the day of the killings]," her attorney, David Sleigh, wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed in Washington Superior Court. "These four tragic and unnecessary deaths are the result of one the biggest failures of the mental health system in the state of Vermont's history."
In July, Herring pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder. Facing life in prison, she is scheduled to be sentenced next week in Washington Superior Court. The hearing is set to commence Monday, and could last several days.
Tags: Jody Herring , DCF , Lara Sobel , David Sleigh , Phil Scott , mental health , Rutland Regional Medical Center , Aita Gurung , Miro Weinberger , Barre , Burlington , Central Vermont Medical Center , Image , Web Only
Thursday, November 9, 2017
At a widely covered press conference in December 2015, then-governor Peter
Shumlin announced that a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services would allow the state to start providing Vivitrol to inmates about to be released from prison, as well as to patients at residential treatment facilities.
Vivitrol reduces cravings and blocks opiate highs for about a month. For inmates who haven't been able to access treatment such as methadone or Suboxone while in prison, it can serve as a bridge, giving them some stability while they line up a longer-term recovery plan. Studies have shown that recently incarcerated people are at a heightened risk of overdosing.
The initiative attracted national attention when it was launched, but it's only benefited a handful of inmates. DOC has administered 11 injections since the start of the three-year pilot in 2016 — 10 at Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland, where the program was first launched, and one at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington.
“That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s a lot compared to what we started with. For months and months and months we were at one person, so an increase to 11 is actually pretty good,” said Corrections Commissioner Lisa Menard.
Tags: Vermont Department of Corrections , Lisa Menard , Vivitrol , Peter Shumlin , addiction , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Inmates at all state prisons who have prescriptions for methadone or buprenorphine (aka Suboxone) will be able to receive those medications, which diminish cravings and temper the side effects of heroin withdrawal, for up to 120 days, Commissioner Lisa Menard confirmed in an email Tuesday. Previously, inmates at two facilities received a 90-day maximum of medication-assisted treatment, while MAT was only available for 30 days at the other state jails.
Tags: DOC , Lisa Menard , methadone , Suboxone , Sam Blatt , William McGuinness , Image , Web Only
Friday, November 3, 2017
Pelham, who replaces Con Hogan, has held multiple posts under four previous governors. He was tax commissioner for Republican Jim Douglas; finance commissioner under Democrat Howard Dean, and commissioner and deputy commissioner of housing and community affairs under Democrat Madeleine Kunin and Republican Richard Snelling.
The Green Mountain Care Board, which regulates Vermont's health care system and oversees the state's reform efforts, has undergone significant turnover this year. Pelham is the third person Scott has appointed over six months, joining Maureen Usifer and board chair Kevin Mullin.
Pelham, who identifies as an independent, was elected a state representative in 2002, and he served one year. More recently, he cofounded the public policy organization Campaign for Vermont with Bruce Lisman, who challenged Scott in the Republican primary for governor.
Tags: Green Mountain Care Board , Phil Scott , Tom Pelham , Howard Dean , Jim Douglas , Image , Web Only
Friday, October 13, 2017
Meat with lot codes 072517BNB and 072417BNB and establishment number "EST. 9558" have been recalled by the processor for possible contamination with the toxin E. coli O157:H7, according to the Department of Health.
"If people have [the ground beef], they should throw it out or take it back to the place of purchase," Bradley Tompkins, the state's food-borne disease epidemiologist, said Friday afternoon. The ground beef "continues to be a risk and it's very possible that people have this in their freezer."
Tags: E. coli , Bread & Butter Farm , Vermont Livestock Slaughter & Processing , food-borne illness , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
OneCare Vermont, the accountable care organization that is spearheading the move toward an all-payer system, announced the participants Tuesday.
OneCare estimates that 120,000 Vermonters will receive health care next year through the all-payer model, in which health care providers are paid based on patient health outcomes, rather than the number of procedures performed.
“It’s a huge step — 120,000. I’m happy with it,” OneCare CEO Todd Moore said.
Tags: all-payer , OneCare Vermont , University of Vermont Medical Center , UVM Medical Center , Vermont , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Hospital executives are in contract negotiations to expand air ambulance service in 2018 through a collaboration with DHART, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advanced Response Team. The deal could be completed within the month, according to Eileen Whalen, president and chief operating officer of UVM Medical Center.
The new service would focus on interhospital transport of critically ill patients in UVM's service area, which includes Massena, N.Y. — a three-hour drive from Burlington. That same journey takes about 35 minutes through the air, according to Whalen.
Tags: University of Vermont Medical Center , air ambulance , helicopter , John Fortune , Eileen Whalen , Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center , Image , Web Only
Monday, September 25, 2017
The Vermont Department of Public Safety on Friday approved a license for the state's fifth medical marijuana operation, which plans to open dispensaries in Bennington and St. Albans.
PhytoScience Institute, led by University of Vermont professor William Cats-Baril, beat out four other applicants vying for a state license. For the last two years, the Waterbury-based Institute has offered consulting services and conducted testing and research on marijuana products.
While Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the Vermont legislature’s attempt to legalize marijuana last session, he did sign a bill that allows for a fifth state medical marijuana dispensary license.* The legislation also permits each of the five licensees to operate a satellite location.
Tags: Bennington , Cannabeat , medical marijuana , PhytoScience institute , St. Albans , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only