Mental Health Commissioner Paul Dupre told lawmakers Wednesday afternoon that Central Vermont Medical Center wants no part in providing ancillary services to the state’s new psychiatric hospital.
Not so, hospital CEO Judy Tartaglia said Wednesday evening. Tartaglia said that the medical center is still open to collaborating with the state facility, which is being built next door to it in Berlin.
But the disconnect between DMH officials and the hospital has stoked concerns among lawmakers.
With anxiety already running high about how well the decentralized mental health system is working and whether the new state hospital will relieve pressure on the system, Dupre’s announcement about CVMC was not well-received in the Statehouse on Wednesday.
The Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital is scheduled to open July 15, although Dupre said he doesn’t expect to have all 25 beds filled until Aug. 15, and even that deadline might be too ambitious.
“It would be foolhardy on my part to say everything will work perfectly and we’ll have all this in place by August 15,” he said.
Dupre told the House Appropriations Committee about CVMC’s decision Wednesday in the midst of trying to temper their expectations surrounding the opening date for the facility.
“I know there’s a lot of talk about being open by a certain date, but if you look at the challenges …” Dupre said, before reading a list of the department’s remaining tasks. He cited CVMC’s decision as evidence of the unforeseen bumps in the road that the department faces as it works to open the facility.
“I’m just trying to explain that some things don’t go exactly as you expect them,” Dupre told the committee. “It’s not helpful to our goals.”
DMH officials were hoping the medical center would provide a number of services for the state, from having its physicians do physical examinations to providing pharmacy services. Deputy Commissioner Frank Reed rattled off a list of what the state had been looking for.
“In our initial conversations with Central Vermont, we talked about using their pharmacy services, potentially dietary and food services, utilizing some of their vendor contracts for women’s supplies, ordering medications and other supplies, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and also medical staff services for routine physical assessments for patients,” Reed said.
“And so they just essentially said no to everything?” Rep. Peter Fagan, R-Rutland asked.
“At this point, yes,” Reed said. “They’ve said that through the Fletcher Allen Partnership, of which they are a member, they were encouraging us to work with Fletcher Allen to secure these services rather than through them.”
“That’s 90 miles away!” Fagan said.
CVMC contests the department’s assertion that they’ve ruled out those options.
“Providing services is not off the table. We just need to make sure the services make sense for both CVMC and the state,” Tartaglio said.
Tartaglio said CVMC did express specific reservations about providing pharmacy services when speaking with state officials Tuesday, but she said they remain open to other arrangements. CVMC still plans to provide outpatient services.
Reed, contacted after CVMC’s response, reiterated Dupre’s interpretation of that conversation.
“That was not the initial communication,” he said. “If they are willing to provide other ancillary services, if that is a possibility, we’d love to have that conversation.”
Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, a member of the Human Services Committee, said DMH has ignored the writing on the wall. CVMC, according to Donahue, has been clear for the past two years that it has liability concerns about providing ancillary services. Tartaglio confirmed that point Wednesday.
“I don’t know why anyone in the world thought anything would change. Their [CVMC’s] rationale was very clear. Literally from day one, before the shovels were in the ground,” Donahue said.
“They [DMH officials] knew this, and that’s why it was so critical for them to be working from the beginning to do things like establish their own pharmacy,” Donahue continued. “If that becomes an excuse for not having done the homework, that is pathetic.”
Dupre said the department will try to fill part of the void by developing contracts with Fletcher Allen Health Care, which he thinks is “enthused” about collaborating, and Copley Hospital in Morrisville, but neither facility has the convenience of being in close proximity to the state hospital.
Rep. Martha Heath, D-Westford, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, told Dupre, “It’s such a surprise and a shock. It’s astonishing.”
“It’s an extreme disappointment,” said Rep. Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero.
Dupre responded: “This is just the beginning of the surprises that happen in these types of projects.”
