Devon Green, VP of Government Relations
Workplace Violence: S.36, the workplace violence bill, has passed both the House and the Senate and is going to the governor’s desk. Thank you to all the health care providers who contacted legislators—they heard you. I especially want to highlight and thank all of our witnesses. Your testimony was heart-wrenching, and it made the case for S.36 undeniable:
- Danielle Boudro, Director of Progressive Care Unit, Northwestern Medical Center
- Alison Davis, MD, Medical Director of Emergency Medicine, Rutland Regional Medical Center
- Tom Dee, President and CEO, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center
- Patricia Johnson, Emergency Department RN, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center
- Matt Looft, BSN, RN, CEN, Charge Nurse, UVM Medical Center
- Jill Maynard, RN, Director of Nursing for the ED and ICU, SVMC
- Marc Sacco, RN, ED Manager, Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center
- Ryan Sexton, MD, ED Medical Director, Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital
- Ben Smith, MD, Director of ED, Central Vermont Medical Center
S.36 is just one step in addressing workplace violence. VAHHS will be working with VPQHC over the summer and fall to determine what resources are needed and what recommendations should be made to the legislature next year. We will also be collecting data on how S.36 is being used to determine whether certain populations are disproportionately impacted as perpetrators or victims and developing a standardized policy with the Law Enforcement Advisory Board to clarify law enforcement response to assault of a health care worker.
I want to thank our legislators in both the Senate and the House for supporting this important legislation. I also want to express appreciation to our most ardent champions on this bill: Senator Dick Sears, Senator Ginny Lyons and Rep. Mari Cordes.
Most importantly, thank you to all those who get up and go to work every day to care for your communities despite the threat of violence. You are valued, and we will change this.
Forensic Unit: The House Judiciary Committee advanced S.89, which establishes a forensic unit within the nine-bed wing of the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital as residential care. The bill requires the Department of Mental Health propose rules for the forensic unit regarding the administration of involuntary medication and emergency involuntary procedures. The bill also creates a working group to determine if the forensic unit is appropriate for individuals with intellectual disabilities who are involved with the criminal justice system. The House will likely vote on the bill next week.
Sneak peak of 2024…
Psychedelics: The House Judiciary Committee was introduced to H.371, which decriminalizes psilocybin and establishes a Psychedelic Therapy Advisory Working Group. Given the late date, this bill likely won’t get any traction until next year.
Overdose Prevention Center: The House Human Services Committee continues to look at harm reduction strategies for drug use with H.72. The bill allows for the operation of overdose prevention centers.
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Grief and gratitude': In the face of tragedy, a community steps up |
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Brattleboro Reformer
This week, Groundworks Collaborative resumed its role in providing for some of the most vulnerable members of the community.
Four days after the death of Leah Rosin-Pritchard, who was killed by a resident of Morningside Shelter on the morning of April 3, Josh Davis, Groundwork’s executive director, announced the organization was taking a three-week pause.
“It is clear that our entire staff needs a pause in order to come together to grieve, work together toward healing, and figure out our way forward,” stated Davis in a news release.
During the past three weeks, a number of community organizations stepped in to fill the gap, led by Dr. Kathleen McGraw, the chief medical officer at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.
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Springfield Hospital offering new telehealth programs via Dartmouth Health |
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Valley News
Springfield Hospital is partnering with Dartmouth Health Connected Care to use three forms of telehealth, according to a news release.
The partnership includes the services of TeleNeurology and TelePsychiatry in Springfield Hospital’s emergency department and inpatient rooms, as well as TeleICN (intensive care neonatology) for the care of newborn babies in the emergency department.
Springfield Hospital closed its birthing center in 2019. In the Upper Valley, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon and Gifford Medical Center in Randolph are the only hospitals that continue to deliver babies.
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How a new treatment for ACL tears harnesses the body’s own healing power |
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WCAX
The Central Vermont Medical Center has become the first hospital in Vermont to offer an innovative new treatment for ACL tears that doctors say can help a torn ACL heal itself.
“It’s an exciting new addition to the ACL toolbox,” said Dr. J.P. Begly, an orthopedic surgeon at the Central Vermont Medical Center.
In March, Begly performed the first surgery in Vermont using an innovative ACL implant.
“It’s called the Bridge Enhanced ACL Repair or BEAR procedure, and what it involves is actually a new technology that allows us, in some tears, to use the patient’s own ACL in a repair technique,” he explained. “It’s using your own tissue so that already has your own cells in it and your body, it kind of allows your body to heal itself.”
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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont to partner with Michigan-based affiliate |
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NBC5
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan announced an agreement Monday to formally affiliate and work together across both companies.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield says the affiliation will provide the Vermont organization with additional expertise, as well as operational and information technology resources.
The goal is to improve overall affordability and quality while delivering a broader range of services that meet the evolving needs of members.
Under the affiliation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont would become part of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan enterprise family of companies, but will continue under the same name with the executive leadership team and workforce headquartered in Berlin, VT as they are today.
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Post-pandemic, even hospital care goes remote |
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Vermont Public
David and Marcia Elder packed their bags anticipating a month-long stay at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., when David went in for a bone-marrow transplant in late February, as part of his treatment for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.
A few hours after surgery, the couple were amazed when staff offered them the option of returning home that day. "They came to us and said, 'We have this hospital-at-home program' and I was like, 'What? I'd never even heard of it,'" Marcia Elder says.
By dinnertime that day, paramedics had set up a make-shift recovery room in their living space and they returned to convalesce at home.
Such a thing was unimaginable, just a few years ago. The Mayo Clinic was among the first hospitals in the country to experiment with sending acute patients home for remote care four years ago.
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Kurt L. White: Collective loss, trauma and mourning and reflections for growth in difficult times |
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Manchester Journal
A teacher of mine once said, “All psychotherapy is about loss.”
If this is an exaggeration, it may be a useful one, as it highlights the importance of what psychotherapists call our attachments: the people, things, and even ideas in our lives that we value, keep inside of us, and which help to give our lives meaning and purpose. These are a part of how we make the world our own, and to hold people and ideas dear to us helps also to define who we are. To lose them brings a very specific kind of pain and difficulty, and mourning is the process where we try to find ways to live without who or what has been lost to us. Dealing with loss is central to being human; loss demands to be dealt with. Mourning is an active process, and we are changed by it.
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Save the date for the 2023 Annual Meeting, Community Connections: September 21 and 22. |
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