Long awaited housing is opening in South Burlington for employees of the University of Vermont Health Network. A ribbon cutting Thursday marked a milestone in UVM Health Network’s struggle to hire and retain in hiring and staff.

“I think everyone takes a position at the hospital to serve the community, and its nice to be in the community at the same time,” said Travis Delaney, who has worked at the UVM Medical Center for 15 years. He says, living close to the Burlington campus isn’t easy. “I think it’s hard, it’s hard for everyone.”

Now the network hopes to fill some of those gaps. “We are hopeful no longer will we be faced with making offers to new people from out of state only to have them decline eventually because they weren’t able to find housing,” said the network’s Becky Kapsalis.

The Emergency Department at Rutland Regional Medical Center has launched a new Nurse Practitioner Triage Model of Care with three Nurse Practitioners specializing in Emergency Medicine.

The traditional triage model involves nurses who assess/stabilize the patient, and then await the evaluation by a provider who can then place orders such as x-rays, Cat Scan, labs, etc. Under the new triage model of care, the patient will first see a Nurse Practitioner who is licensed to order diagnostic tests, x-rays, scans, labs immediately. When the attending physician sees the patient, they will already have the results of the patient’s testing, etc. in hand and can make a diagnosis or recommendation for next steps.

Thousands of babies are born every day but nursing students often don’t get to witness a birth in school. A new simulation lab is giving hands-on experience at Northern Vermont University-Lyndon.

At a time when a nursing shortage persists across the country, Vermont State University officials say they’re hopeful the upcoming school merger will increase enrollment, subsequently helping health care providers in the Northeast Kingdom.

NVU-Lyndon nursing students Hannah and Casey are getting trained in the university’s new simulation lab. Before this lab, students would train at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury. But every day is different, so emergency scenarios or changing situations don’t necessarily happen every time students are there.

“We don’t really get to do much up on the floor this year, it’s going to really kind of set in stone that that’s the track I want to change if it’s something different,” Hannah said.

A new report sheds light on whether Vermont’s big investments in mental health and home health agencies are paying off, and also raising questions about how the state funds its designated agencies.

Lawmakers last year set aside $294 million for mental health providers, $282 million for developmental services for adult and home-care providers, and $247 million for long-term care providers. Many providers received grants for recruitment and retention as well. More rate increases are proposed in this year’s budget, but are they making a difference?

Coming out of the pandemic, lawmakers passed big rate increases for organizations and nonprofits the state relies on for mental health, including senior care, home health, and transportation.