BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont hospital officials are pushing back against a sweeping report last month that found the services they offered were financially unsustainable, and that they say was based on flawed and inaccurate data.
After two years of community surveys, meetings, and gathering data, the report commissioned by the Green Moutain Care Board painted a picture of a health care system in crisis. In addition to the state improving housing and other incentives for health care workers, it said hospitals may need to eliminate beds and consolidate services at Gifford Medical Center, Grace Cottage, Springfield, and North Country hospitals, creating regional hubs where people can seek specialized services.
But officials at North Country and Gifford now say there were errors in the data that was used. The Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems is calling on the GMCB to retract the report.
In response, the consultant who put together the report defended the data, saying it did not use actual patient visit counts but percentages.
“It is important that hospital leadership and communities recognize the overall system-wide financial challenges and continue to assess and consider options for the future,” the Oliver-Wyman consulting firm said in a statement. “Wyman has provided financial projections that account for Vermont concerning demographic trends. Wyman did not mandate or recommend any hospital closure. To the contrary, we provided local communities and hospitals options to examine in addressing critical existing gaps in care. and financial challenges, so that local health care is sustained.”
