Digger Tidbits: State to probe more abuse complaints; Foodstamps backlog disappears; Shumlin tweaks AT&T with Tweet
Canteen reopens at State Hospital; Vermont has second highest health insurance rates; Timely release of tax data? Salmon is sailor of the year; Wallack touts single-payer in New England Journal of Medicine; Report urges “prompt” solution to long-term nuclear waste problem; Statehouse trees stay put
Keelan: A reflection on the Vermont State Hospital
As state government takes over the delivery of health care in Vermont, it might be worthwhile to look at how well the state has run another state-run institution, the Vermont State Hospital.
Exit interview: Vermont State Hospital director says facility is No. 1 problem
Rowe describes the hospital as a “prison-like” environment. Patients are kept in their rooms most of the time. There is no gymnasium, no garden area, no vocational shops, and very little space for family visitation.
Head of Vermont State Hospital resigns
Terry Rowe, executive director of the Vermont State Hospital, announced her resignation Thursday. She has served as head of the state facility for severely mentally ill patients for seven years.
Money bill redux: Capital spending set for Vermont State Hospital, Montpelier biomass plant
The $153 million capital bill will pay for expanded broadband, a new police barracks, digital equipment for Vermont Public Television, land conservation and affordable housing.
Patient sets fire at Vermont State Hospital
A Vermont State Hospital employee extinguished a fire in a patient’s room just after midnight on Thursday. The fire, which was intentionally set by a patient, was in the middle of the room, according to a press release from the Vermont State Police.
Derby: VSH, our common shame
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Diane Derby, a Statehouse journalist with the Vermont Press Bureau from 1991 to 2000. “A recognition of our common humanity.” That phrase became the cornerstone of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy’s majority opinion in the 1999 State v. Baker decision, which led to the Legislature’s passage of [...]
Committee members balk at cuts to programs for the most vulnerable
In a grim little ceremony, members of the House Human Services Committee went around the room and took a straw poll on which programs they could live with cutting.
On video: Douglas defends Challenges for Change
Douglas said if lawmakers don’t like the administration’s specific ideas, they should come up with their own alternatives.
If a private company can run the Vermont State Hospital Canteen, why can’t the state operate it?
A for-profit company is not likely to cater to patients’ needs.
