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

We are letting our children down.

Photo courtesy Adam Swancor   We are letting our children down. They’re our future and they may be the parents of our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, if we’re lucky. Signs of… Read More

The Inversion: Make Primary Care Primary and Hospitals Secondary

Photo supplied by UVM Medical Center We’re at an inflection point in healthcare reform in Vermont. The number of Vermonters who can’t access or afford healthcare is a rising tide… Read More

Bill Schubart comments at Press Release for primary care & mental health bill – Jan 26, 2023 – VT Statehouse

In healthcare policy, Vermont must reset its priorities  ̶  either fund hospitals or the healthcare of Vermonters. Yes, they are intertwined but not an either/or  choice as some hospitals would… Read More

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: Prevent Private Equity from investing in Vermont Nonprofit Healthcare, Journalism, and Corrections

    The incursion of private-equity investors(PE) into nonprofit healthcare, journalism, and corrections is doing untold societal and economic damage in the service of high-speed profiteering. Private equity investors, usually… Read More

A Model for Vermont Healthcare

Health Center, Plainfield, VT The Vermont healthcare system, infrastructure, and vision are broken, and Vermonters of all economic strata are the losers. The soul of the system is fine if… Read More

Comments to Copley Board Strategic Planning Meeting: Trapp Lodge 102822

Background: I grew up 500 feet from the original 1932 Copley Hospital. I had my tonsils and appendix removed there by Doctor Phil Goddard, our family doc, and he set… Read More

Vermont Healthcare: A Ship at Sea

I was asked recently if there was a simple way to keep track of how our healthcare system measures up? My “simple” answer was, “Yes, count the number of people… Read More