NEWS

Vermont hospitals allowed to spend $12M in community

April McCullum
Free Press Staff Writer
The McClure Buidling at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington.

Two hospitals in the University of Vermont Health Network may use a portion of excess revenue to support community programs, state regulators said Thursday.

In a 3-2 vote, the Green Mountain Care Board allowed the UVM Medical Center and Central Vermont Medical Center to use $17 million to bring down commercial health insurance rates, said board chairman Al Gobeille.

An additional $12 million will support programs related to affordable housing, mental health care and substance abuse. Champlain Housing Trust and HowardCenter are expected to benefit.

"I see this as another step in the transformation of the way we provide health care and focus more and more on keeping people healthy," Todd Keating, chief financial officer of the UVM Health Network, said in a statement.

The board declined the hospitals' request to use $3 million to support health care reform through Vermont's new accountable care organization (ACO) because it would not directly help Vermonters, and because ACO funding needs more discussion, Gobeille said. That money was redirected toward insurance rates.

Gobeille, who cast the tie-breaker vote, said he appreciated the hospital group's support of "upstream" population health efforts.

"This is the first time we’ve seen a hospital take such a strong position on it," Gobeille said.

The hospital revenue proposal generated controversy, as some public comments called for the money to be used in other ways.

Gobeille said the board would craft a policy for guiding hospitals in the future use of excess revenue.

Hospitals would use money for housing

This article was first published online Thursday, April 7, 2016. Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank