Brattleboro Memorial Hospital could be the first hospital to receive additional financial monitoring under a new state law passed earlier this year.
Most of the state’s hospitals have been losing money for years, and lawmakers this year passed several bills to try to address the threat to the state’s health care system.
Act 49 gives the Green Mountain Care Board authority to appoint an independent observer when the board has concerns about a hospital’s financial picture.
At a meeting Wednesday, a financial analyst for the board said it would not be able to rule on Brattleboro’s pending budget request because their financial information was not reliable.
“GMCB staff believes that Brattleboro’s FY 26 budget submission contains material misrepresentations," Emma Runia told the board.
(Green Mountain Care Board) staff believes that Brattleboro’s FY 26 budget submission contains material misrepresentations.Emma Runia, Green Mountain Care Board financial analyst
Those concerns, coupled with broader worries about the hospital’s financial stability, prompted Green Mountain Care Board staff to recommend dispatching a financial observer to the Brattleboro hospital.
The Green Mountain Care Board has been hearing from Vermont’s 14 hospitals over the past few months as it gets ready to make decisions on the hospital budgets for next year.
As part of that process, the five-member board hears a presentation from staff concerning the hospitals’ financial outlook. The appraisal of the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital budget was bleak.
The hospital has lost money every year for the past five years, and expects to lose almost $3 million next year.
In the hospital’s budget submission, it failed to provide details on its executives’ salaries, a requirement of another new health care oversight law. The board was also concerned by its cash-on-hand and outstanding unpaid bills.
On top of all that, the hospital could stand to lose another $4 million due to a new state law that caps prescription drug prices.
The hospital thinks it is exempt from the new price cap, but a report to the Green Mountain Care Board found that the hospital could be subject to the law, which would be a “large risk” to the hospital’s finances.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital CEO Chris Dougherty acknowledged shortcomings in the hospital’s budget proposal, and he kept open the door for having an independent observer work with the hospital.
“We are looking at quick ways to get this resolved,” Dougherty said. “I believe we can turn something around in a month’s time in terms of a resubmission.”
The Green Mountain Care Board is expected to rule within the next few weeks whether Brattleboro Memorial Hospital should have an independent observer oversee its finances. That would include the observer making recommendations to the board on the hospital’s future.
Green Mountain Care Board member Thom Walsh said the challenge for the board is how to make a decision on Brattleboro’s budget request while waiting for a more accurate financial analysis.
The Green Mountain Care Board staff recommended that the board level fund the budget, or approve a slight increase, for now until the hospital provides more accurate data.
“I’m sensitive to Brattleboro’s financial situation and the effect that a level-funding decision could have on them,” Walsh said.
