The Rutland Regional Medical Center and the Brattleboro Retreat are banding together to offer faster access to mental health treatment for children.

“There's often a delay in getting the patients seen by child and adolescent psychiatrists because those children and adolescents need to wait for an impatient to become available to initiate treatment,” said Dr. Alison Davis, Medical Director of the Emergency Department at Rutland Regional Medical Center.

Using telehealth mental health providers with Brattleboro Retreat, healthcare providers will be able meet with children and adolescents who require hospitalization while waiting in the emergency room at Rutland Regional. The pilot program is called the Vermont Emergency Telepsychiatry Network.

“A couple of times a week any patient who's waiting for a bed at the retreat, would be able to have a consult over a telepsychiatry platform,” Davis said. “And we could get recommendations on initiating treatment for that patient sooner.”

The recent restart of Gifford Health Care’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program means that survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence no longer need to leave the White River Valley to receive care.

Gifford, which is based in Randolph, has long had some nurses trained to provide these forensic services, which can include helping gather genetic evidence following an attack, testing for and preventing infections and helping survivors begin to heal from the trauma.

But now it has a team of eight, including five who are trained to treat adults and children, and three trained to treat adults only. The size of that team makes them confident they can offer assistance whenever people need it.

How healthy are Franklin County’s residents these days? It depends on who you ask.

And this year, Northwestern Medical Center asked a lot of people.

The local hospital released its 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment this past fall, and the document signals a new approach as NMC officials work to understand the community-wide problems affecting individual health.

The major takeaway? Health services aren’t nearly as effective when people simply can’t access healthcare.

“Nationally, we’re finally making those connections between health outcomes and reasons why we have such poor health outcomes,” said Denise Smith, NMC’s director of population health programs and strategy.

As COVID cases are on the increase across much of the U.S., vaccination booster rates -- especially among the more vulnerable over-50 population -- have not kept up, including in our region.

Most states have seen cases and hospitalizations increase in the past two weeks. In Vermont, this week’s statewide community levels remain “low.” The seven-day rolling average of hospital patients admitted with a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 has been around eight to ten.

Only about 14% of Americans have received the bivalent booster vaccine. In Vermont, that number stands at about 29%. The shot, available since September, is designed to target the BA. 4 and BA. 5 subvariants, which now only account for about 9.5% of cases in New England, according to the CDC. But even with the new dominant BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 subvariants, Health officials have said that getting the bivalent booster is still recommended to avoid the worst outcomes and to protect older residents going into the holidays.

Vermont’s COVID death rate is on the rise, averaging about two deaths per day over the last week. The overall death toll now stands at 781.

Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer PC announces the retirement of Anne Cramer from its law practice, effective December 31, 2022.

Anne is retiring from a forty-year career during which she has remained at the forefront of health law, with a national reputation for her wisdom and expertise. She made a name for herself as a frequent lecturer on ground-breaking laws. She provided counsel to hospitals, nursing homes, community mental health agencies, physician groups, various trade associations, including the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, and other health care interests. Anne has been routinely recognized as a ‘Best Lawyer’ in America, as well as a ‘Super Lawyer’ of New England.

She also made significant contributions to her alma mater, Blair Academy, on whose Board of Trustees she has served since 1992. Anne was the first woman to receive their Alumnus of the Year award and received the school’s highest honor in 2021, the Citation of Merit. She was also inducted into their 2019 Athletic Hall of Fame.