1.       UVMMC has generated  negative Medicare margins for at least the past 10 years. These negative margins have averaged $43M and totaled $119M in 2022.  60% of academic peer hospitals broke even… Read More

Vermonters: The time is now to reach out to your legislators and insist they protect the mission of the Green Mountain Care Board to regulate and improve our access to healthcare in Vermont.

Unlike my prior columns on healthcare, this one will be short, concise, and easily understood. It’s a call-to-aims (sic) for all Vermonters concerned about their access to quality healthcare. The… Read More

Leveraging Government’s Role by Funding Designated Agencies and Specialized Service Agencies in the Nonprofit Sector

The socio-economic governance spectrum divides itself into the for-profit business sector, the nonprofit mission-driven sector, and the government sector. There are statutory regulations that, often rather loosely, regulate the governance… Read More

Oppose Senate bill S.211….written by Vermonters for Vermonters?

Senate bill S.211 is an attempt by the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS) to gain more power. Their dominant member is the UVM Health Network (UVMHN). Over… Read More

It’s Time for the UVM Health Network Board to Talk with the People They Serve

Talk With Us The stated mission of the UVM Health Network (UVMHN) is “… to improve the health of the people in the communities we serve by integrating patient care,… Read More

A Community-Engaged Hospital in Vermont

Photo courtesy of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Too often I write about our misunderstanding of the complex systems that plague us and our failure to reimagine them as functional solutions to… Read More

Comments to Brattleboro Hospital Convocation on October 4, 2023

Photo of Brattleboro Hospital courtesy of VTDigger.org We’re here to talk today about how best to design and implement a healthcare and social system that secures our shared goal of… Read More

Memo to Board members: It’s Unwise to Try to Intimidate, Insult, or Challenge the Authority of your Regulator

  I have grave ethical concerns about the behavior, governance, and board leadership at the UVM Health Network (UVMHN) and its network of Vermont hospitals (Porter, Central VT, and UVM Medical Center… Read More

Our Young People and the Imperative of Social-Emotional Learning

   Courtesy Penn Live Our public schools have become the focus of our efforts to support youth mental health. Many parents are stressed beyond imagination because of the pandemic, flooding, and… Read More

A New Asylum for our Communities

The Weeks School Girls’ Dorm When I was young growing up in Morrisville, there were certain institutions that were invoked largely in an effort to ensure that we behaved. One… Read More

Do UVM Medical Center or its Parent UVM Health Network Continue to Deserve their tax-exempt Status?

  During my long life, I’ve chaired 13 statewide nonprofit organizations, including the former Fletcher Allen Hospital, and served as a trustee on nine others. The first was the Vermont… Read More

Comments to BCBS Annual Board Meeting; Woodstock Inn 062123

Thank you for the opportunity to talk with you today, I will use a portion of my time to raise what I feel are the key issues in healthcare today… Read More