Hospitals

The hospital will stop admitting new psychiatry patients in mid-January, and will lay off nearly 50 staff members after January 31.

Hundreds of residents expressed their support for Gifford Medical Center at a community meeting this week after a report released in September said Gifford will not be able to sustain its operations without major restructuring.

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.

Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend is the latest Vermont hospital to organize a public forum in opposition to a series of hospital reforms suggested in a recent statewide report.

“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.

The union representing health care and higher education employees, AFT Vermont, says it’s doubled the number of workers in its ranks over the last six years.

Organizers say they plan to negotiate better wages, work flexibility, safe staffing ratios, and more transparency with management.

Copley Hospital, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and Northwestern Medical Center have formed the New England Collaborative Health Network.

Green Mountain Care Board Chair Owen Foster said the financial situation for the Lamoille County hospital was dire enough to warrant a rare mid-year price increase.

Several of the largest hospitals in the region say their emergency rooms are very busy, and patients should expect longer-than-usual wait times for non-life-threatening conditions.