The University of Vermont Health Network announced – with great fanfare – this week that it had submitted a proposal to the Green Mountain Care Board aimed at addressing health care affordability and access.
The glowing report details how collaborative UVMHN folks worked to address issues of health care costs and patient access.
Patient access as anyone who is currently a patient at the Mad River Valley Family Practice knows, is a big deal. When the Green Mountain Care Board limited patient revenue last year, Central Vermont Medical Center responded by announcing plans to close the local health center and the nearby physical therapy practice last fall.
But despite the hype, the UVMHN press release means nothing for us in terms of local health care. Network spokesperson Annie Mackin when asked via email about this said: “The submission of this proposal does not change plans for any of the steps previously announced in November, all of which have either already happened or continue to move forward, with the exception of dialysis services.”
The press release touts “Significant investments by UVM Health Network in community-based primary care, and partnership with primary care providers throughout the region to reduce more expensive visits to the emergency room.”
But not here.
UVMHN president and chief operating officer Dr. Stephen Leffler acknowledged how last fall’s decisions impacted and “disappointed” people.
“The decisions we made last fall disappointed our patients and communities – the very people who put their trust in us to receive outstanding care. We’ve heard your voices and are working hard to earn back your trust,” said Stephen Leffler, MD.
But not our voices and not our trust.
The folks at CVMC were asked to weigh in but did not. Apparently plans to move Mad River Valley patients to Waterbury are not progressing as rapidly as projected. The move for local folks was to happen in May and is now pushed to August, if not later. It’s hard to guess what might happen in August based on what has happened to date. One thing is clear, UVMHN’s big announcement doesn’t amount to a hill of beans for local folks who are “disappointed.”
