Lawmakers are asking UVM Health Network to reconsider proposed cuts, but auditors say they have no choice – VTDigger

A number of state attorneys are asking the University of Vermont Health Network to reconsider the widespread reductions the health care provider has proposed.

Lawmakers want to “raise the voices” of the system’s most vulnerable patients, Sen. Andrew Perchlik, D/P-Washington, said during a press conference held on Tuesday by AFT Vermont, an organization that represents 10,000 health care and higher education. workers across the country.

Two weeks ago, the health network announced plans to end UVM Medical Center’s referral services, reducing the number of inpatient beds at the Burlington hospital by about 10%, to closing the psychiatry center at Central Vermont Medical Center, closing two clinics in Mad. River Valley and downsizing dialysis programs in Newport, Rutland and St. Albans.

Patients, donors and advocates responded with dismay, and now lawmakers have added their voices to the mix.

“It is clear that we have a broken system when the largest hospital network in the state proposes to cut programs that our community depends on, for budget reasons,” read the 45 letter and current and future delegates sent to Sunny Eappen, CEO of UVM. Health Network, on Tuesday.

Lieutenant Gov.-elect John Rodgers sent a similar letter to Eappen on Tuesday, asking the health network to “reconsider these cuts and commit to working with the Green Mountain Care Board, the Agency of Human Services , and the Vermont Legislature to find a way forward that keeps needed services open and available to those of us who need them.”

Leaders of the health network blamed the cutbacks on the Green Mountain Care Board. But Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, said at a news conference on Tuesday that this was not the time to point fingers, especially during “the growing problems that are driving people’s ability to buy insurance, making it get health care on time is not available, that threatens our rural hospitals.”

Donahue called on the hospital network to act “like an adult” instead of “throwing patients under the bus as a negotiating ploy for political gain.”

“Medicine should be the highest moral appeal. This sinks it to the lowest level of politics,” he said.

Donahue took issue with the network’s decision to eliminate the psychiatric department “at a time of a nationwide mental health crisis.”

Deb Snell, an ICU nurse at UVM Medical Center and president of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, said during a news conference on Tuesday that the organization has filed “a very large request for information seeking details all” related to the cut and expects a response from the network early next month.

Snell said that, because of his experience caring for patients during the suicidal phase, he believed that “cutting mental health services is just crazy.”

In a separate press conference held shortly after lawmakers and union leaders held theirs, UVM Health Network executives outlined the financial challenges the system is facing. They say they share concerns about the impact that cutting services could have on vulnerable patients, particularly dialysis and psychiatric care.

“I think it’s important for everyone to realize that we’re in the business of taking care of patients … that’s our goal,” said Anna Noonan, president and chief operating officer of Central Vermont Medical Center. . Health networks will not make “a decision like this without serious consideration and evaluation of the consequences for patients, their families and the community we serve. So it is absolutely not part of politics.”

Stephen Leffler, president and chief operating officer of UVM Medical Center, called it a tough time for Vermont, citing rising costs in many areas. “We have to find a solution,” he said.

He said, it’s time for the executive branch, the Legislature, regulators, health care providers and insurance companies to “come together and figure out how to take some of the pressure off the insurance business.”

Meanwhile, the health network must comply with the Green Mountain Care Board’s cost-cutting requirements, Leffler said, even if the decisions are difficult.

“We understand that people are upset. We really want to work on the next steps now: How can we get them out with as little impact as possible? ” “How do we make sure this doesn’t happen again? And how do we work to make sure there’s quality health care across Vermont for all Vermonters who need it?