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Old 11-07-2010, 08:50 PM
 
17 posts, read 43,113 times
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We are considering retiring to Vermont, but are interested in the quality of the medical care. Currently we are in Southern N.E., and if we need to, we can go into Boston for our care; we're only 50 miles away. How cutting edge are the hospitals in Burlington?


Are the care-givers generally up to date on new procedures/treatments. Is there a practice of patient education? Are patients treated with compassion and respect? I know it may seem hard to believe, in this day and age, but there are still some small communities, where none of the above occurs! Thanks for any opinions/info.
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Old 11-08-2010, 04:41 AM
 
Location: Manassas, VA
1,558 posts, read 3,846,839 times
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I can just tell you my mother's experience at Fletcher Allen vs. her experience at Prince William in Northern Virginia outside of DC. She was in the hospital twice in VA and was diagnosed with hypertension, rheumitism, and clinical depression. Several months after we moved her up to Vermont she had to go into the hospital again.... She did not have hypertension....but rather that was a symptom of some kidney issue that they found and she was also diagnosed with Lupus. She has never felt better in her life considering everything she went through and the fact that she has some permanent damage with her system. But - after seeing how she was treated in Virginia to how they treated her in Vermont....a world of difference. This is a woman who had not seen a doctor in years because she didn't trust them....trusted them less after being in the hospital in VA and now goes to see a doctor on a regular basis in Vermont.

You'd think Northern Virginia would have been 'up to date' with everything....but two visits to the hospital there in just under a year and they never diagnosed her lupus which was what was causing everything else to go wrong with her....she did not even have rheumtism. They took the time to get it right even though everything was a mystery in the beginning.

I know everyone has their own experiences, but this was ours. I still live in VA but if I got sick and needed care - send me up to Burlington any day of the week!
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Old 11-08-2010, 07:52 AM
 
Location: Winter Springs, FL
1,792 posts, read 4,652,979 times
Reputation: 945
I work at Fletcher Allen (the only hospital in Burlington) and will give you an honest opinion on the care here. We are just as advanced as any other major medical center in the country. The care and compassion is very good for a hospital of our size. I think most people are happy with the care they recieve here as well. I do a significant amount of patient education as well as many other people here. The level of education depends on the person doing the education. Like anywhere it can be different from person to person.
There are some issues. Vermont is a small state and we can't provide all the services a large city can provide. What I mean is that some procedures can't be done because our population is so small. A physician can't be competent at a procedure if he only does it a handfull of times in a year. A larger city can do the same procedure several times in a week. In cases like this, you have no choice but to travel to Boston or Albany, NY. Another issue with healthcare in general is that physicians treat everything with medication(s). While medication is important, the underlying cause is usually never treated or corrected. This is not just a problem here, but one of the big problems with western medicine. Another thing to consider is what type of insurance you will be using if you move to Vermont. Some are better than others. An example, this past week we ran an education day for people in our department. We had a physician who gave a lecture for us. When we were talking about treatment modalities and how some treatments are covered and not covered, Vermont medicare/medicaid was discussed. This physician felt they were one of the most difficult insurances to get approvals for treatments from in the country. Vermonter16 has a great story and I think most are like that story, but to say any hospital does not have problems would be misleading. Just like any other hospital, there are people who feel they don't get good care. In a nut shell, we always try to put the patient first.
Vermont is a small state. The resources are not as available as more populated states. Burlington should provide almost all healthcare requirements, but once you get to the smaller communities that may not be the case. Most of the hospital in Vermont are well under 100 beds. The care you get is very good, but the services that you get are very limited. The big problem I feel is that most people live 20-30+ minutes from a hospital in the state. I won't bore you with the data, but the critical care or emergent care numbers are not very good because of this. If you live in Burlington or one of the surrounding communities this is not as big an issue.
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Old 11-08-2010, 09:57 AM
 
1,135 posts, read 2,380,393 times
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I would agree with 68Yvette in that the care is very good---if you can get to Fletcher Allen or over the border to Dartmouth Hitchcock within a reasonable amount of time.

I'm very healthy and young, but this summer I experienced a life-threatening medical condition that could have easily killed me. The local hospital couldn't treat me so I was sent to Fletcher Allen where I was an inpatient for two weeks and had critical surgery.

I was lucky in that there was a doctor at Fletcher Allen who had trained with the inventor of the surgery I needed and performed the procedure over a hundred times. Had he not been available, I would have had to be airlifted to the Mayo Clinic.

He saved my life and was very compassionate, spending time to explain the risks with me and my family. The hospital was very good about arranging after care with home-health nurses so I could return to my home and three young children and recover where I felt most comfortable.

The nurses were great for the most part. At one point I was put in a room that was downright dirty with a nurse who couldn't care less, but as soon as I complained to my caseworker I was moved the same day.

The hospital has been very good about letting me work out a payment plan for the charges not covered by insurance, which has certainly helped reduce the stress of coming through such an ordeal.

I wouldn't consider moving anywhere where you couldn't access Fletcher Allen or Dartmouth Hitchcock within a half hour or so. We live more than an hour away, and it was really hard for my hubby and kids to schlep back and forth every day to visit me when I was an inpatient. Plus, follow-up visits meant taking at least three hours off from work, which was a pain.

Also, if you were to have a stroke or heart attack, you would be a goner or severely disabled if you couldn't access medical care much sooner so you should at least try to live within 10 to 15 minutes of a community hospital.
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Old 11-14-2010, 11:45 AM
 
17 posts, read 43,113 times
Reputation: 28
Default Thanks for comments.

Thank you all , for your insightful information. Your comments will definitely help us in our decision. I knew about Dartmouth-Hitchcock's excellent reputation before, and it is good to know that Fletcher Allen is also excellent. It is so unfortunate, that all hospitals outside major metro areas, like NYC & Boston, don't have the opportunity or resources, to address rare or complicated illnesses. This Country should have a plan by now , to graduate more Physicians, since we are already facing a shortage; this will only worsen in the near future, as the baby-boomers age. Also, we should have an all-encompassing network, linking the small Community hospitals to the larger Metro ones, or some form of Resource Center, via computer technology. Thanks again, for taking the time to comment. We wish you all the best of health. Take care! I'll check back from time to time, to see if there are any future comments.
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Old 11-14-2010, 10:05 PM
 
Location: Vermont / NEK
5,794 posts, read 13,910,553 times
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My recent experience:

I had never been overnight in a hospital in my life - until this past summer. I was sick and wasn't getting any better so I checked myself into the emergency room at North Country Hospital in Newport, a city of roughly 5000 people, in a county of about 25,000. The hospital is affiliated with Dartmouth Hitchcock, but I really don't know what that means in terms of care. It turns out that I had a gangrenous gall bladder that needed to be removed asap.

Because I had actually eaten something after three days of no appetite, I needed to wait until the next morning for surgery. I was admitted but there was no available space in whatever ward they use for such patients so they put me in a private room in maternity, which was empty - and spotless, I might add.

I could not have asked for better care. Everyone was professional with a capital P. They also had time for some personal chat which helped to take my mind off of matters. I was the first to undergo surgery the next morning and it was almost like embarking on a voyage. I was prepped and waiting in an alcove while the personnel gathered for the departure. Listening to their small talk I really felt as though I was going along with them, but then the anesthesiologist (I can't believe I spelled that one right ) came over and put my breather on.

It may have been just another minor surgery to them, but to me it was a pretty big deal. Post op I felt great, except for that first moment coming out of it when I thought I was drowning, but my wife's smiling face brought me back to a pleasant reality.

Going in, the hospital knew I had no insurance, but it was never a factor in the class way that I was treated. They did their part and now I'm doing mine on a monthly basis.

And that's my story about VT's most rural hospital.
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Old 11-15-2010, 04:58 AM
 
Location: Manassas, VA
1,558 posts, read 3,846,839 times
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Square Peg - that is good to know about North Country since my husband and I will be living in Glover in a few years!!! We did consider the medical care in the area, distance, etc....The hospital here in VA is just a few miles away....but it actually takes 15 - 20 minutes to get there with normal traffic....longer with traffic....an ambulance....beats me. We just keep in mind that if we are going to have an emergency to do it at night when there are not too many cars on the road
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Old 11-15-2010, 06:38 AM
 
Location: Winter Springs, FL
1,792 posts, read 4,652,979 times
Reputation: 945
In your origional post you mentioned you were looking to retire in Vermont. On the local news (WCAX) this past weekend was a story on how the cost of retirement in Vermont has gone through the roof. Make sure you have the resources to retire here before you make the move. Vermont now ranks as the fourth most expensive place in the country to retire.
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Old 11-15-2010, 07:07 AM
 
Location: Winter Springs, FL
1,792 posts, read 4,652,979 times
Reputation: 945
Quote:
Originally Posted by square peg View Post
My recent experience:

I had never been overnight in a hospital in my life - until this past summer. I was sick and wasn't getting any better so I checked myself into the emergency room at North Country Hospital in Newport, a city of roughly 5000 people, in a county of about 25,000. The hospital is affiliated with Dartmouth Hitchcock, but I really don't know what that means in terms of care. It turns out that I had a gangrenous gall bladder that needed to be removed asap.

Because I had actually eaten something after three days of no appetite, I needed to wait until the next morning for surgery. I was admitted but there was no available space in whatever ward they use for such patients so they put me in a private room in maternity, which was empty - and spotless, I might add.

I could not have asked for better care. Everyone was professional with a capital P. They also had time for some personal chat which helped to take my mind off of matters. I was the first to undergo surgery the next morning and it was almost like embarking on a voyage. I was prepped and waiting in an alcove while the personnel gathered for the departure. Listening to their small talk I really felt as though I was going along with them, but then the anesthesiologist (I can't believe I spelled that one right ) came over and put my breather on.

It may have been just another minor surgery to them, but to me it was a pretty big deal. Post op I felt great, except for that first moment coming out of it when I thought I was drowning, but my wife's smiling face brought me back to a pleasant reality.

Going in, the hospital knew I had no insurance, but it was never a factor in the class way that I was treated. They did their part and now I'm doing mine on a monthly basis.

And that's my story about VT's most rural hospital.
What an affiliation means is that a hospital is linked to a bigger facility for multiple reasons. Usually the big reason is financial. Small hospitals do not purchase large amounts of goods like a larger hospital does. The smaller hospitals usually will end up paying more for the same product. With an alliance there is more purchasing power. They also will be more likely to send their patients to DHMC when patients need to be transported because of the alliance. This is not always the case. IF DHMC says they can't take the patient then FAHC, Boston or another facility will be called next. The quality of healthcare is good in Vermont, but one the major issues with rural living can be healthcare. Hospitals are limited due to their size or number of beds. An example was this past week. We picked up a patient from Brattleboro, Vt. The person was tranported 2.5 hours for care. DHMC and Springfield Mass could not accept the patient for care. This type of thing happens all the time. There are only three major medical centers north of Boston. FAHC, DHMC and Maine Med.
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Old 11-15-2010, 07:05 PM
 
Location: Vermont / NEK
5,794 posts, read 13,910,553 times
Reputation: 7292
That's a good explanation, 68. Kinda like when the local hardware store became an Ace dealer, per se. I wasn't sure if Dartmouth Hitchcock owned a share of North Country or if certain standards of service applied or what. You've given me a much better understanding. Thanks.
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