Stop Cuts to Essential Healthcare Services at UVM Health Network

Dr. Sunny Eappen, CEO of the UVM Health Network

This week, the UVM Health Network (UVMHN) announced its plans to shutter many essential patient care services around the state, including mental health care, primary care clinics, and dialysis centers. The decision comes on the heels of the Green Mountain Care Board’s order to reign in administrative and managerial bloat, citing data that UVMHN ranks among the worst in the nation in these areas when compared with similarly sized health networks.

The Board also directed hospitals to ramp up mental health and primary care services, in order to keep people out of Emergency Departments and reverse the rapidly increasing cost of healthcare in our state. The UVM Health Network is doing exactly the opposite.
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AFT Vermont

To: Dr. Sunny Eappen, CEO of the UVM Health Network
From: [Your Name]

We call upon the UVM Health Network to continue to provide the following services to Vermonters:

* Inpatient psychiatry and primary care clinics at Central Vermont Medical Center
* Dialysis in St. Albans
* Dialysis in Newport
* Dialysis in Rutland
* The Mad River Valley Health Center
* The Berlin Family Medicine Clinic
* The kidney transplant department
* Outpatient CDI Nurses

Cutting these services will lead to lower quality and higher cost for healthcare and mental healthcare for Vermonters.

Instead, we call for
* A full review of the benefits, if any, of maintaining the UVMMC Health Network.
* Cuts to administrative bloat, not vital healthcare services.
* Hospital Boards that are open, inclusive and include front-line staff.

cc:
Green Mountain Care Board
UVMMC Health Network Board
UVMMC Board
CVMC Board
Governor Phil Scott
Senator Ginny Lyons, Chair of the Senate Healthcare Commitee
Rep. Lori Houghton, Chair of the House Healthcare Committee