Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program

Stephen Leffler, M.D.’90, president and chief operating officer of the UVM Medical Center and professor of emergency medicine at the Larner College of Medicine

(SEPTEMBER 27, 2024) The Burlington Free Press reported on an email sent to patients and “community leaders” on Wednesday by Stephen Leffler, M.D.’90, president and chief operating officer of the UVM Medical Center and professor of emergency medicine at the Larner College of Medicine, and other top executives of the University of Vermont Health Network warning that “major reductions” by the Green Mountain Care Board—which is responsible for overseeing major aspects of Vermont’s health care system—to the Network’s budget for the coming year would result in cuts to care that will directly affect patients.

“The state regulator’s decision about our nonprofit safety net hospitals are significant enough that we have no choice but to make some reductions in the care we deliver in Vermont, in addition to further increasing behind-the-scenes expense cuts,” the email stated.

“In the coming weeks and months, we will share with you our plan to deliver care within the restrictive limitations set by the state’s regulator,” the email said. “There will be difficult decisions ahead. You have our promise they will be made with careful consideration and thought, but we know we will not be able to fully provide the level of care our communities need and deserve.”