What services will be terminated
- The University of Vermont Health Network has announced reductions in staff and services in response to budget restrictions imposed by the Green Mountain Care Board.
- The cuts include the loss of 200 jobs, the closure of dialysis units, and a reduction in overnight patient beds.
- The Green Mountain Care Board, however, said it does not agree with these gaps, and is seeking an explanation from UVMMC.
- UVMMC leadership says the reduction is necessary due to the large increase in patients and the reduction in rates for commercial customers.
(This story has been updated to include new information.)
Executives at the University of Vermont Health Network have announced staff and service cuts they say are in response to orders from the Green Mountain Care Board that require them to cut budgets for UVM Medical Center and the Vermont Medical Center. , during the press conference. Thursday morning.
The GMCB issued a quick response on Thursday, saying it had not been consulted and did not approve the reduction, and that it was “reaching out” to UVMMC to better understand its reasons for the cuts and whether it had reviewed the procedures. how others, “as identified in the GMCB’s budget and operational instructions.”
“GMCB approved a $1.9 billion budget for UVMMC for FY25, an increase of $64 million over UVMMC’s FY24 budget,” the statement said. “As set forth in its budget order, the GMCB has determined that compared to other hospitals UVMMC has a significant opportunity to improve cost control and control the very high prices it charges to commercial Vermonters.”
The Green Mountain Care Board is Vermont’s independent health care regulator, responsible for approving hospital budgets and tasked with reducing health care costs in the state while increasing access.
The GMCB measures the amount of “patient revenue” each hospital can earn each year, and penalizes UVMMC for exceeding that amount by $80 million by 2023.
What UVM Health Network is cutting and what medical services the hospital will stop providing
UVM Health Network executives announced the following actions:
- 200 jobs will be cut: 150 to UVMMC and 50 to CVMC. About half of the jobs lost will be so-called travel nurses, who are hired on contracts to fill gaps in the regular workforce. Dr. Sunil Eappen, president and chief executive officer of the UVM Health Network, hopes that the 100 permanent workers who were laid off can be placed at other hospitals, either inside or outside the UVM Health Network.
- UVMMC will no longer manage the dialysis units at the St. Albans, Rutland and Newport.and will seek “alternative providers” to run the sites. Dr. Stephen Leffler, president and chief operating officer of UVMMC, said the hospital loses about $3 million each year on dialysis equipment, which serves about 115 patients. Leffler stressed that change will take months and there will be no immediate change. The goal is to keep the service local and not take it out of the country.
- UVMMC will reduce its “population”. In fact, the number of overnight patient beds is available, from 450 to 400, to reduce the number of small hospital-to-hospital transfers, according to Leffler. The reduction will take place “gradually and deliberately” over the next year. Leffler said UVMMC handled 500 patient transfers in September, the highest number ever, but will have to turn away patients. Bob Ortmyer, president of Porter Medical Center in Middlebury, said that limiting transfers to only “high acuity care centers” is serious and will have a negative impact on our patients.
- UVMMC will stop the kidney transplant and has begun negotiations with Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, to replace the transplant. UVMMC will continue to provide care to its patients on the kidney transplant waiting list, with the actual transplant taking place at Dartmouth. UVMMC performs 12 to 15 transplants each year, according to Eappen.
- CVMC will consolidate its primary care practices at its main campus in the Mad River Valley, as well as consolidating its Mad River and Barre Rehab clinics.
- CVMC’s inpatient psychiatric unit will be closed and the hospital will review the practices of its eight patients, including placing mental health doctors in all primary care clinics.
- UVM Health Network is cutting more than $18 million in administrative costs this year due to the instructions of the budget of the GMCB, according to the press release, by reducing measures to reduce the waiting time, and delaying the care of the center and the improvement of technology.
“When you reduce patient income, there’s no other way than to reduce care,” Eappen said.
Hospital associations say
Hospital associations issued a statement on Thursday condemning the cuts.
“The proposed closure of CMVC’s Inpatient Psychiatric Unit will devastate mental health care in our community and our organization,” said Sue Becker, CVMC nurse practitioner. “This is an unacceptable decision. UVM Health Network and CVMC management are suing the Green Mountain Care Board, however, this is the fault of management and leaders who failed to properly plan their finances. We will not stand by and let this happen.”
Deb Snell, president of the nurse and technology union at UVMMC, added that the union is concerned about the UVM Health Network “is a symbol of providing high-quality patient care that Vermonters deserve.”
Funding orders from Green Mountain Care Board create $122 million hole for UVM Health Network to address
The GMCB rejected UVMMC’s request for a 3.4% increase in rates for commercial customers like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont that pays the hospital, and instead cut the rate by 1%. Eappen said that Thursday was the first time in his career that he saw the business rate drop.
Eappen said the results of the GMCB operation required UVMMC and CVMC to cut a combined $122 million from their budgets, most of which came from UVMMC.
“That’s the challenge we’re being asked to face, to come up with that $122 million,” he said. “We are doing this for 25,000 new patients in the last five years, 8,000 last year alone. On top of that, patients are getting older and sicker. We have to provide high acuity care and frequently. in all hospitals.”
Green Mountain Care Board questions why New York hospital health network owes $60 million to UVM Medical Center
In its statement, the GMCB raised another tax question, saying it found that UVMMC owes $87 million as of September 30, 2023, from other UVM Health Network hospitals, including its New York hospitals. .
“This included $60 million from Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh, NY,” the statement said. “These costs included $30 million in chemical costs, $20 million in physician salaries and benefits, and $10 million in shared services. The GMCB asked about the status of refund of these funds and is awaiting further information related to this matter.”
Asked at a news conference this morning about the loan owed to UVMMC by CVPH in New York, Eappen said “the movement of dollars across the network has nothing to do with the budgets of Vermont hospitals.”
“We made that very clear to the Green Mountain Care Board,” he said.
Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT.
#services #terminated