VAHHS names Michael Del Trecco president and CEO |
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VBM
The Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS) today announced Michael Del Trecco will serve as the advocacy organization’s next president and CEO following a thorough national search. Del Trecco most recently served the organization as interim president and CEO and prior to that was senior vice president of finance and operations. Del Trecco has been with the organization for 18 years and has an extensive background in health care finance, public policy and hospital operations.
“This is a crucial time for our hospitals, and we highly value Mike’s experience, integrity and the respect he has rightfully earned from health care and policy leaders across Vermont,” shared Claudio Fort, President and CEO of Rutland Regional Medical Center and Chair of the VAHHS Board. “We are pleased to welcome Mike as our next leader.”
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UVM Children's Hospital sees triple the normal number of respiratory disease cases |
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The Burlington Free Press
The University of Vermont Children's Hospital is seeing admission numbers for respiratory viral illnesses this fall that would normally only be seen at their winter peak.
Hospitalizations due to rhinovirus or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are triple the usual fall numbers at the hospital, said Dr. Becca Bell, UVM Children's Hospital pediatrician and president of the Vermont Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, via email. Bell said the hospital is not seeing pediatric admissions for COVID-19.
While cases are high for the fall season, Bell said the hospital is not overwhelmed. The future of hospitalization numbers, however, is unpredictable.
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Strong RSV vaccine data lifts hopes after years of futility |
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WCAX
New research shows vaccinating pregnant women helped protect their newborns from the common but scary respiratory virus called RSV that fills hospitals with wheezing babies each fall.
The preliminary results buoy hope that after decades of failure and frustration, vaccines against RSV may finally be getting close.
Pfizer announced Tuesday that a large international study found vaccinating moms-to-be was nearly 82% effective at preventing severe cases of RSV in their babies’ most vulnerable first 90 days of life. At age 6 months, the vaccine still was proving 69% effective against serious illness — and there were no signs of safety problems in mothers or babies.
“Moms are always giving their antibodies to their baby,” said virologist Kena Swanson, Pfizer’s vice president of viral vaccines. “The vaccine just puts them in that much better position” to form and pass on RSV-fighting antibodies.
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Q&A: Owen Foster brings a litigator’s background to health care regulatory role |
VTDigger
Owen Foster, the new chair of Vermont’s Green Mountain Care Board, didn’t start out working in health care.
Soon after graduating law school in 2007 and joining a large firm, he was tasked with representing one of the hedge funds that fed billions of dollars to Bernie Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme.
“There were a lot of lawsuits,” Foster said. “When you lose $4 billion to Bernie Madoff, you get sued a lot.”
In 2014, he was offered a position at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont. Foster, who was born and raised in Middlebury, jumped at the opportunity to return to his home state. From there, one thing led to another.
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Open Enrollment 2023: Vermonters can sign up for health insurance starting now |
VBM
November 1 marks the first day Vermonters can sign up for or change their health and dental plans for 2023. Thanks to a new law that extends financial help through 2025, Vermonters can get lower-cost health plans that cover preventive care like mental health services and annual check-ups.
Vermonters can save money on the amount they pay for plans, called premiums, if they qualify and sign up on the health insurance marketplace. Tens of thousands of Vermonters already use this financial help, called subsidies or federal tax credits, to buy insurance through Vermont Health Connect. This year increased financial help is available through the federal government and more Vermonters who have access to employer health insurance can get this help through the marketplace.
“Vermont has one of the lowest uninsured rates in the country,” said Andrea De La Bruere, Commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access. “We at the Department advocated strongly for financial help so that Vermonters can become and stay insured through affordable, accessible health plans.”
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Vermont launches new initiative to support clinicians |
WCAX
Vermonters will soon see new technology when visiting the doctor. It’s part of the new Vermont Clinician Support Initiative by the Vermont Department of Health, in partnership with the company VisualDx.
VisualDx software is a clinical support system. Healthcare workers can use it to look up symptoms, get recommendations on what tests to run, and receive information about infectious diseases in real time.
“Our hope is to get it up and running to our providers in the next couple of days,” said Christina Harlow, an emergency department provider at Gifford Medical Center. They’re one of many hospitals rolling the program out in coming months. “Everything you could possibly want is in one place, including best tests. Codes for billing are all there. There are links to the CDC. There’s tons and tons of things right there you don’t need to go anywhere else for.”
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This RSV season is scary. Hospital staffing shortages are scarier. |
VOX
On Halloween, one of the most frightening things in Orange County, California was the alarmingly high number of children being admitted to the hospital due to respiratory viral infections. The county’s health department declared a health emergency that day.
Respiratory syncytial virus, otherwise known as RSV, causes colds and lung infections in people of all ages. This year, it’s been the biggest driver of increased hospital volume at the local children’s hospital. “It’s never been like this before,” said Emilee Lamorena, a respiratory program director who also leads pediatric issues at the American Association for Respiratory Care. “It’s all hands on deck.”
Managers and educators — clinicians who now mostly do administrative work — “have been jumping into the bedside,” she said. And the hospital is “getting creative” with its emergency department spaces, converting areas formerly reserved for evaluating mildly ill kids into beds that can be used to treat sicker children.
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