The University of Vermont Medical Center

Michael Dufort: Right to the Drums "There’s so much you can do with just a couple of sticks in your hands. On a very primal level, I like the different sound things make when you hit them and when you hit them with different amounts of force. I just think the way it varies is so cool. And I like how having various drums or percussion going fills out the sound of a band. I was a very big listener of music as a young child. I have older siblings who were always playing rock music, playing the radio, playing records, and I skipped over that little-kid music phase. I got right into, for example, Billy Joel when I was about 4 or 5. And I used to look at the band and know I wanted to do it. Drums were always something I picked out in songs. Everything I heard went right to the drums. And there are a few songs that really stick with me and inspire me as a percussionist. “Sunday Bloody Sunday” by U2 is one of the first songs I remember hearing as a kid and noticing the drum intro. The late Neil Peart from Rush is one of my drumming idols. I finally saw them live for the first time in college with a bunch of friends and often think of “Spirit of Radio.” I heard “Barrel of a Gun” by Guster for the first time in college and thought it was cool that their drummer exclusively played hand drums rather than a conventional drum set. And “Fool in the Rain” by Led Zeppelin is simultaneously one of the hardest drum beats to master – and most fun to play. After college, life got busy, and music slipped away for a while. I moved back to Malone in 2012 to help care for my Dad after he became ill. I went down to my cousin’s house to catch up with him and some friends and he said, “Hey, let’s jam.” It just came right back, and I’ve been in probably five or six bands since I’ve been back. Right now, I play in a band called Bluebird a few times a month. Music brought my family together. My wife and I have six kids between us, and everyone plays an instrument. It was our love of music that bonded us. And it will always be there for me and the people I love." Michael Dufort, RPh, FACA, is the director of pharmacy at Alice Hyde Medical Center. He’s been with us since 2013.

As part of Governor Scott’s Capital for a Day in Chittenden County, our leaders had an opportunity to join state leaders and our community partners for a discussion about the challenges we face in meeting our community’s health care needs, as well as highlight positive progress through collaboration, in Chittenden County. The event was hosted at UVM Health Network Home Health & Hospice and featured UVMMC President Steve Leffler, MD, UVM - HHH President, Christine Werneke, MS and Jessica Moschella, SVP High Value Care for UVMHN.

As part of ongoing efforts to manage crucial IV fluid supplies during a national shortage, UVM Health Network will reschedule certain elective procedures that require large amounts of IV and sterile irrigation fluid, starting this Friday. Patient safety will be the top priority in assessing each case, and patients will be contacted if their procedure is affected. Elective procedures scheduled from Friday, October 25, through Friday, November 1, that typically use large volumes of IV and sterile irrigation fluid will be canceled and rescheduled. Procedures will be evaluated based on urgency and patient safety. Not all procedures will be delayed – patients should continue to arrive for procedures and appointments as scheduled unless contacted by their provider. We are continuously monitoring and adjusting to the situation as cleanup efforts continue at a major IV fluid production facility in North Carolina, which was flooded by Hurricane Helene, causing a nationwide shortage of IV fluid.

Next Monday, the Howard Center's new Mental Health Urgent Care (MHUC) will begin offering a much-needed alternative to emergency department visits for adults facing a mental health crisis. Located at 1 South Prospect Street in Burlington, the center provides immediate support in a compassionate, trauma-informed setting. We’re grateful to have collaborated with many incredible community partners on this important project. The ribbon cutting for the facility took place yesterday.

Dale Walsh, RN, was recently honored with a DAISY Award for her exceptional work in helping a patient through recovery. The patient was so grateful for Walsh's support that they wrote a heartfelt, multi-page letter detailing the compassionate care they received. In the letter, the patient shared, "Dale's efficient and knowledge-based treatment of my physical needs were only eclipsed by her empathy, grasp and support for my will to live and to return to my active life. She not only understood that at ninety, I am not ready to give up on life, she made me feel unique and uniquely healthy for my age. She made me feel like it was a no-brainer that I would recover and thrive even though I felt so very ill at the time."

Summer Collette: A Better Way "I’d be lying if I said I’ve been a die-hard environmentalist my whole life. But every day in the operating room, we use a lot of medical supplies: gowns, sutures, gloves, masks, drapes and countless other materials – all in the delicate care of our patients. Much of it is destined for the landfill, including medical supplies that have expired but could otherwise still serve a purpose. Years of watching all this material turn to waste changed something in me. I knew there had to be a better way, a way to be better stewards of the environment and the resources we use to care for our patients. A visit to my surgical colleagues at UVM Medical Center opened my eyes to a new possibility: We should donate this waste to people in need. UVM Medical Center was already working with Partners for World Health, a nonprofit organization that collects medical equipment and supplies for disadvantaged communities. It clicked for me: The waste we were creating at Porter could become something meaningful to people far beyond our operating room walls. This concept lit a fire in me, and I knew I needed to push for a change. So I started squirreling away everything I could. Early this year, Porter donated its first truck full of expired surgical supplies to Partners for World Health. Since then, units from across Porter are now talking about how they, too, can collect and donate supplies. It feels like we are all in this together, working in our own corners of this health system, trying to make things better. Breaking out of old habits has been an important lesson for me. We can always do things better. As the saying goes, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve always gotten.”" Summer Collette is a surgical technologist at Porter Medical Center. She’s been with us nearly 20 years. Summer's story is part of The Mosaic Project, a collection of short stories about the people of University of Vermont Health Network.

There is currently a nationwide shortage of IV fluids after Hurricane Helene damaged a facility that produces around 60% of the country’s supply. Cleanup is expected to take months. In the meantime, while other facilities and companies ramp up production, we and many other hospitals are receiving only a percentage of the IV fluid orders we normally receive. Our primary aim is to limit the effect that the IV fluid shortage has on patient care. Right now, our guidelines are focused on not using IV fluids when they are unnecessary and limiting how much we use when it is unavoidable. Patients may experience minor changes to their care – specifically, specifically, when safe and appropriate, rehydration fluids and some medications may be administered orally rather than through an IV. No surgical procedures have been cancelled at this time. Patients should arrive for procedures as scheduled unless they are contacted by their provider.

We are honored to be named a 2023 Frontline Healthcare Worker Champion by the National Fund for Workforce Solutions! This prestigious award was recently accepted by Jerry Baake and Megan Foster, members of our workforce development team, at the SHIFT Toward an Equitable Future conference in Memphis. This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team. It highlights our commitment to investing in our workforce, ensuring our employees have the opportunities and resources they need to grow and succeed. From internal training programs and partnerships with area colleges to tuition support and flexible work arrangements, we are proud to foster an environment where our staff can thrive. Read more about our work here: https://lnkd.in/eVWki7f9

We were proud to take the voices of our brave frontline caregivers and the leadership of our organization to the national AHA Society for Health Care Strategy and Market Development Conference in Denver. Ryan Mercer and Bonita Brodt, along with our colleague Ara Telbelian from Henry Ford Health, shared two distinct approaches to highlight the national crisis of violence against our health care workers. Their presentations aimed to bring the public closer to this critical issue and open new conversations to spur meaningful change.

Tony Williams: Invisible No More "As a Black kid growing up in inner-city Queens, becoming a doctor felt impossible. I’d simply never seen a doctor that looked like me, except occasionally on TV. But in eighth grade, when some of my peers were joining gangs or getting pregnant, I decided to aim for the unattainable: I would become a doctor. I learned early that my appearance would shape how many people perceive me. I was 8 when I was first stopped by the police because I looked like another boy who had gotten into trouble. My father was 15 when he witnessed his friend, Randolph Evans, murdered by a police officer. “Don’t die today. Stay out of jail. Finish elementary school. Be invisible. Be invisible.” These are the things I told myself as I tried to make it out. I am privileged to have loving, supportive parents. They helped me believe I could achieve anything. I first volunteered at a hospital when I was 13, an experience that ultimately led me to medical school and, finally, residency. It looked like my dream was becoming a reality, but in these predominantly white environments, I found myself talking differently, being more conscious of my appearance and less likely to be open about what I knew or what I didn’t. I didn’t like to ask for help. I didn’t find it easy to be myself. Be invisible. It was holding me back: I twice failed my Step 2 examination – the “gateway” exam to becoming a doctor – before finally moving on to my residency. After the 2020 George Floyd murder, I began to find my voice. I realized that I would never succeed professionally, nor be able to support others, if I wasn’t open about my vulnerabilities and challenges as a Black man and physician. Today I proudly wear my life experience. It makes me a better doctor, helps me find common ground with my patients and be empathetic to the students. I still go to Queens regularly with my wife and kids to visit my family. It makes me grateful for where I have come from and hopeful that with the right support." Tony Williams, MD, is a physician at Colchester Family Practice and an assistant dean of admissions at University of Vermont's Larner College of Medicine.