As UVM Medical Center staff rally against cuts, report shows decline in quality of care

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Hospital staff concerned about $122 million in planned statewide cuts at the UVM Health Network rallied on Thursday at the UVM Medical Center to call attention to the issue. The protest comes at the same time as a recent federal report shows a decline in the quality of care at UVMMC.

Providers at Vermont’s largest hospital took to the streets Thursday over planned cuts to patient services that they say will threaten patient care quality and will make Vermont’s health care crisis worse.

The protest — and ongoing budget cut debate — come at the same time as a recent federal report shows a decline in the quality of care at the UVMMC. They are findings that have Patrick Flood, a health care leader under the past three Vermont governors, deeply concerned. “I think it’s a combination of both a system that we have that’s very decentralized and not well regulated, in my opinion, and then we have hospitals like the UVM Medical Center where management has failed,” Flood said.

Hospitals subscribe to numerous rating agencies and federal Medicare issues “star ratings” based on quality and safety of care and patient satisfaction. This year, UVMMC was penalized by Medicare for quality and safety issues, dropping from five to four stars.

“Through the pandemic, we have seen an increase in pressure injuries and falls. This is also a trend we’ve seen nationally,” said Hillary Wolfley, the executive director of Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care Inc.

UVMMC blames a slew of pandemic-related issues for the decline, including retirements, medical students having less hands-on training, integrating traveling nurses, and sicker patients without the right setting to discharge them to.

Hospital officials say four stars is still high and that they are working to improve. “We’re shooting for excellence and so we’re going to get back to a five-star rating. But while we’re working on that, people shouldn’t be worried that it is unsafe or the quality of care is not good,” said UVMMC’s Dr. Mark Bisanzo.

Meanwhile, Patrick Flood says Vermonters should be getting more value for their bottom dollar. “We are one of the most expensive systems in the country — in the world really — and we’re having these issues with quality? It’s not right,” he said.

This balance over access, quality, and affordability comes as the state tries to make the health care system more efficient in a state with an aging demographic.

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