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Keeping your community covered. We're committed to producing high-quality, fact-based news and information that gives you the facts in this community we call home. If our work has helped you stay informed, take action, or feel more connected to Windham County – please give now to help us reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31st.
BRATTLEBORO-Since moving to Brattleboro in the 1970s, I have counted on Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) and its medical practices to be there when I, my friends, and my family have needed care.
That care is largely provided by nurses and support staff - the people whom we patients interact with at the bedside, in the lab, and in other hospital departments and medical offices. These health care workers - lifted up as heroes during the pandemic - deserve contracts that will encourage them to stay rather than seek employment elsewhere.
I am aware that BMH is experiencing financial challenges. If there was mismanagement by the previous management team, that was not caused by the frontline workers, and BMH's financial woes should not be solved on their backs.
Our local health care workers show up every day and should be treated as assets to the hospital, not as a "solution" to the hospital's solvency problems. They have expressed willingness to negotiate in good faith, and I urge BMH's administration to work with the unions on contracts that reflect the respect these workers deserve, and that enable them to afford to live in our local area.
Mollie Burke has been my representative in the state legislature since 2009, and I will be voting for her on Nov. 8. Burke has been an effective member of the House Committee on Transportation, always looking for creative ways to balance our need for mobility with our stewardship of...
My letter in the March 20 issue of The Commons [“Proposed cuts to VHAP, Catamount are unacceptable”] included an editorial change that misrepresents my meaning. The edited version refers to VHAP and Catamount as relief. I consider them to be insurance programs, not relief.
In the 1970s, I lived and worked in England, and was in the National Health Service. I had good care and never had to worry about whether I'd be able to afford it. I am thrilled that Vermont is moving in the direction of universal health care and wish it could happen sooner than 2017. Meanwhile, disturbing changes are afoot for participants in Vermont Health Access Program (VHAP) and Catamount Health, which will have to shut down at the end...
