Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center reviews past year and identifies challenges during Annual Meeting

Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC), a member hospital of the Dartmouth Health system, saw more than 58,000 primary care, specialty and inpatient visits, about 20,000 therapy visits, nearly 6,000 emergency department visits and over 930 hospital admissions in 2022. MAHHC President, CEO and Chief Medical Officer Joseph Perras, MD, presented the year in review during the organization’s recent annual meeting.

In his opening remarks, Perras noted that Mt. Ascutney is leading Vermont hospitals for inpatient satisfaction with care. According to data from the Vermont Department of Health, Mt. Ascutney earned the highest scores in the State in 7 of 10 categories included in the 2022 Hospital Report Card. When asked “How well do patients rate the hospital?”, 83% of respondents gave the hospital a rating of 9 or 10 (out of 10), the top score and well above the statewide average of 75%, and the hospital similarly scored first when 87% percent answered “Always” when asked, “Would patients recommend the hospital to friends and family?” exceeding the statewide average of 74%.

“Mt. Ascutney exemplifies excellence and innovation in rural healthcare, thanks in large part to our resourcefulness and to our affiliation with Dartmouth Health, but we are all still in the same existential crisis caused by an exodus of healthcare workers, the downstream staffing effects on post-acute care facilities and the mounting costs of prolonged hospital stays and temporary staffing,” Perras said. “We are expanding programs to attract and retain staff, but more needs to be done to provide housing and shift demographic trends toward net migration into the state.”

Still, Perras said MAHHC has low employee turnover rates and “very high” employee engagement metrics.

Mike Del Trecco, President and CEO of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, gave keynote remarks, which outlined several challenges facing rural hospitals in Vermont, from economic trends like workforce and housing shortages to proposed state legislation that would constrain prices and put limits on spending.

“Vermont is the most rural state in the nation, with 65% of its population living in rural areas, and it also has one of the oldest populations. As a result, Vermont hospitals are doing more with less,” Del Trecco said.

“While Vermont consistently ranks as one of the healthiest states in the nation, our hospitals have fewer beds per capita than the national average, and nearly half the beds per capita as those in Washington D.C., despite its similar population size.”

MAHHC currently has 25 inpatient beds and a separate 10 bed acute rehabilitation unit.

Del Trecco cautioned that constraint models currently being considered by Vermont legislators, like global budgets and price regulations, risk stifling innovation and will likely make it harder to tackle systemic problems.

In 2022, MAHHC completed upgrades to two radiology rooms, kitchen facilities, telecommunications, security and IT systems, along with other updates to certain floors, roofs and lighting systems across the campus, Perras said.

During the meeting, the MAHHC Board of Trustees re-elected current board member John Gerstmayr, a retired partner of the international Boston-based law firm Ropes and Gray LLP, for an additional three-year term; and elected Leesa Taft, DPN, MSN, APRN, current Primary Care Medical Director and practicing provider at MAHHC.