Ric Flood formally inducted John into our Club. John Pane said he started with Rotary when he reached out to John Hammer to offer to volunteer and John H. said he should just join our Club. He is looking forward to engaging with Rotary.
Dr. Brumstead zoomed in from his office. The UVM Health Network is made up of 4 hospitals in northern New York and three hospitals in Vermont.
May 20, 2020
Bob Sanders, Sam Feitelberg, John Hammer, Jessica Brumstead, Linda Barker, Keith Walsh, Ric Flood, Nancy Danforth, Jonathan Lowell, France LeBlanc, Susan Grimes, Howard Seaver, Margo Casco, Ros Graham, Linda Gilbert, Richard Fox, Chris Davis, Bill Deming, Jim Donovan, Terry Kennaugh, Tod Whitaker, Carrie Fenn
Dr. John Brumstead is our speaker today.
Ric Flood moved to have a vote on Dr. John Pane’s membership; Bob Sanders seconded. Vote to induct was unanimous. Let’s out reach out to him and welcome him to our Club!
The scholarship committee has identified three scholarship recipients. Discussion ensued regarding the amounts to be distributed. We typically provide $2000 to each recipient. Chris Davis asked if we had the money to provide the scholarships. Margo said we would have to do a lot of fundraising. Providing $6000 in scholarships would draw down the account to perhaps uncomfortable levels. Bob suggested we wait until Trafton is back to confirm what the applicants understood the scholarships to be. There is a clause that if the scholarship isn’t used this year allows the funds go back to Rotary. The VSAC scholarship language is leaves a lot of wiggle room.
John Hammer noted us that John Pane was back in the Zoom meeting. Ric Flood formally inducted John into our Club. John Pane said he started with Rotary when he reached out to John Hammer to offer to volunteer and John H. said he should just join our Club. He is looking forward to engaging with Rotary.
Dues for 2020 are due June 15 so we can update the roster by July 1. Bob Sanders will be sending out invoices of $223 for our annual membership. There was a unanimous vote to keep dues at $230. France reported that the Bishop decides when to open Trinity Church, and she expects it will be closed for the summer. Jessica let us know that the 25 that can get together are under age 65.
Chris suggested we have a noontime Changing of the Guard at Shelburne Vineyard, grab your own pizza and perhaps the Vineyard can offer beverages. This event needs to happen by the end of June or beginning of July. Richard Fox said the District will be offering an online event on Saturday, June 20 to recognize the work of Rotary and induct the new officers in to the local clubs. Things aren’t going to get normal so we are better off adapting and changing.
Dr. Brumstead zoomed in from his office. The UVM Health Network is made up of 4 hospitals in northern New York and three hospitals in Vermont. These 7 hospitals do the majority of ambulatory and emergency care in the region, and prepare for disaster relief. Each of the hospitals has a disaster response command center. The Network realized there was a lot of value in using a coordinated effort. At 4:00 every day until mid May, 50 people from across the Network went through a list to make sure that all facilities had proper equipment and were up to date on trends. They put together a uniform visitation policy, a protocol for the usage of PPE, bringing confusion and anxiety way down. The team was also very connected with the Departments of Health for both states, talking to them on a daily basis. Revenues are down 60% because of a shutdown of certain kinds of services. The Network’s financial goal is to get through the year and not violate any bond covenants. As CEO his goal is to lose less than 30 million dollars this fiscal year. The Network has good communication with the legislature and executive branch of both states working through the financial crises being faced by the Network. They are working in lock step with the Departments of Health in regard to opening up services and are maintaining uniform protocols. Opening up services is important to not only get the finances back on track but more importantly to make sure people can get the care they need. No one in the ED’s or ICU’s became COVID 19 positive from caring for a patient.
In order to save costs, the Network stopped spending capital on equipment building upgrades, they’ve minimized or eliminated outside consultants, continuing medical education has been suspended, eliminated all variable components to pay physicians, directors and executive staff, hiring has been frozen. Many of the 14,000 employees didn’t have work to do so they were asked to use their CTO time and go into the negative. Folks were furloughed so their benefits were paid and they were eligible for unemployment assistance. People who made less than $99,000 received an additional week’s pay.
The Network is setting triggers so they can match their response with what is happening to adjust their work to avoid a “second wave.” The goal is to make sure their ability to take care of the sickest isn’t overwhelmed, and to minimize the impact of the second wave. Making sure there is enough equipment for a second wave is also a priority. Part of the reopening is watching the burn rate network wide to make sure supplies aren’t exhausted. The academic aspect of the Network has been at play as well involving treatment research.
Starting June 1, the fourth year medical students will come back into the clinical settings to start gaining their experience, and the third years and into second years will come back into the clinics end of June. There will be lots of teaching online.
Patients and transport personnel can move between state lines. Specialists are working remotely providing consultations and patient care. Equipment has been moving back and forth.
Thanks to Dr. Brumstead for the insight. We’ll be donating a book to one of the local libraries when things open up again.
Keith closed out the meeting at 8:40.
Respectfully submitted,
Carrie Fenn