by Joseph Gresser
NEWPORT — Around 90 supporters of North Country Hospital filled the banquet room at the East Side Restaurant on the evening of January 16. After a year during which the very existence of the hospital was threatened by the recommendations contained in a report commissioned by the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB), those gathered for North Country’s annual meeting might have been apprehensive.
Instead the mood in the room was celebratory. The remarks from North Country board president Louise Bonvechio gave short shrift to the study by the GMCB-commissioned study, which suggested the hospital is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and should essentially be shut down.
She said the report and its conclusions were met with strong push-back from the community and area legislators in letters and at public meetings. The message was apparently received by the GMCB, Ms. Bonvechio said, and the report, authored by consulting firm Oliver-Wyman, had been taken down from the care board’s website.
Ms. Bonvechio acknowledged an $8-million operating loss in fiscal year 2023 …
…to read the rest of this story and more in the full edition of this week’s paper, pick up a copy on the newsstands today or subscribe now to access our e-version or to have it delivered to your home weekly by selecting a link below:
Annual online subscription
Short-term online subscription
Print subscription
(To find a particular article, search for the corresponding edition of the newspaper)