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

(NOVEMBER 14) Stephen Leffler, M.D.’90, president and chief operating officer of the UVM Medical Center (UVMMC) and professor of emergency medicine at the Larner College of Medicine, commented to Seven Days on the University of Vermont Health Network’s recent announcement of sweeping service cuts—which the network blames on recent regulatory decisions.

Leffler told reporters that the “extremely difficult” decisions will make it harder for patients to access care. But with state regulators mandating that the hospital take in less revenue than it had hoped for next year, the network has no choice. “There’s no way forward except decreasing the amount of care we deliver,” he said.

Service cuts include the closure of an inpatient mental health unit at Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC) in Berlin, elimination of dozens of beds at UVMMC, consolidation of some family medicine and rehab clinics at CVMC, and elimination of surgical kidney transplants at UVMMC. In addition, up to 200 jobs could be eliminated, though roughly half of those positions are currently filled by temporary travel workers. Any permanent employees who are impacted will likely be offered comparable jobs elsewhere in the network.

The announcement ratchets up a long-simmering tension between Vermont’s largest health care provider and its chief health care regulator, the Green Mountain Care Board, which has been attempting — unsuccessfully — to rein in hospital spending.

This story was also covered by WCAX-TV, VT Digger, WPTZ-TV, WVNY-TV, Burlington Free Press, Becker Hospital Review, and the (West Lebanon, N.H.) Valley News