Green Mountain Care Board

The hospital system has said dialysis clinics in St. Albans, Rutland and Newport will remain open as they look for alternative providers. At Central Vermont Medical Center, hospital leaders plan to close the in-patient psych unit, and they'll consolidate several community clinics.

The health network announced a range of planned cuts, including closing an inpatient psychiatric unit, ending operation of kidney dialysis centers, and admitting fewer patients for overnight hospital care.

The accountable care organization will close by the end of 2025. OneCare worked to lower health care costs and improve patient outcomes by moving away from a fee-for-service payment model.

The public forum, hosted by Gifford Medical Center, will start at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. It will be held in Judd Hall Gym at Vermont State University’s Randolph Center campus.

Some experts say increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates to providers, and boosting funding for primary care, could help address increasing costs and barriers to access.

Dr. Bruce Hamory, with the consulting firm Oliver Wyman, told Vermont Public he regrets the report contained inaccurate annual birth and emergency department numbers for North Country Hospital, but, he says they don’t change the overall trend of Vermont’s hospital system heading for financial unsustainability.

The event, held by North Country Hospital, was in response to a state-commissioned report that recommended it reconfigure all inpatient beds, convert the emergency department to urgent care and shift birthing to other places except in emergencies.

“There is no hospital in Vermont that is not in jeopardy,” stressed the consultant who led work on the report. Recommendations include closing inpatient beds and converting emergency departments into urgent care centers at Gifford Medical Center, Grace Cottage, North Country, and Springfield hospitals.

Double-digit increases are hitting Vermonters who purchase insurance directly, and small businesses. Vermont's rates are going up at one of the highest rates in the country.

This year Vermont lawmakers asked health care regulators to study options for regulating prescription drug costs for Vermonters.