BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is projecting to end its current budget with a $14.5 million operating loss, potentially extending a string of annual shortfalls since 2020.
“This is not the budget outcome we had hoped for,” Elizabeth McLarney, one of two acting co-CEOs, said in a written statement Thursday.
The 500-worker hospital, the main health care provider for about 55,000 people in southeastern Vermont, initially proposed a $121 million budget for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Under the plan reviewed by the state this summer and fall, the not-for-profit facility expected to close out spending next Sept. 30 with a $244,529 surplus.
But regulators at Vermont’s Green Mountain Care Board questioned the accuracy of those figures in August and ordered the hospital in October to recalculate its budget or risk becoming the first health care facility to receive state intervention under a new law.
Administrators have blamed the hospital’s fiscal problems on everything from too many unpaid patient bills to their own staff’s rising health insurance costs. Submitting an updated $130 million budget to the state this week, they also cited about $5 million of coming losses due to federal and state changes in pharmaceutical prices and payments.
Regulators have yet to say whether they’ll hold another review hearing but believe the $14.5 million projected loss is “an accurate representation,” spokesperson Kristen LaJeunesse said in a written statement.
The new numbers come as the 61-bed hospital has launched a hiring freeze, let go of six administrators and hired two outside advisers — Ovation Healthcare, a national consultant, and David Sanville, a former chief financial officer at Windsor’s Mt. Ascutney Hospital.
The facility is also searching for a new CEO after its most recent leader, Christopher Dougherty, took an unexplained leave of absence in October and permanently exited his post last month.
“The parties agree that under the current circumstances it is best for Chris to depart and for the hospital to bring in new leadership,” the not-for-profit facility said in a written public statement.
The hospital, one of Brattleboro’s three largest employers, is currently being led by McLarney, an orthopaedic surgeon, and fellow acting co-CEO Tony Blofson, a primary care physician.
“We will continue to thoroughly monitor our finances with a focus on maximizing patient access and closely evaluating all expenses,” Blofson said in a written statement Thursday. “We also stand by our earlier promise to our staff and our community to remain open and transparent about BMH’s financial challenges as we move forward.”
This story was republished with permission from VtDigger, which offers its reporting at no cost to local news organizations through its Community News Sharing Project. To learn more, visit vtdigger.org/community-news-sharing-project.