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COVID Vigilance Needed for Those Over 65

by RDavis | Health

The hypervigilance phase of the COVID pandemic is over but the disease will, most likely, never go away. That’s not earth shattering news but many of us, especially people over 65, should be mindful of the disease and protect ourselves as much as we can. New variants pop up and each one seems to be more communicable than the next.

The fact that a significant number of people have had COVID and have been vaccinated makes casual transmission less likely, but the threat will always be there. Consider these statistics from the CDC.

Every week over 260,000 people contract COVID, over 2000 people die from COVID in the U.S. every week and 3500 people a day are in the hospital because of COVID.

Harris Hill Ski Jump Sunday Results

by Not Signed In | Recreation & Sports

Good afternoon, the Harris Hill Ski Jump 101st addition has wrapped up, to much success. Today’s Fred Harris memorial tournament results are attached, the winner of the event was Slovenia’s Ozbej Kotnik.

Thank you for your continued interest and support of Harris Hill Ski Jump.

Harris Hill Ski Jump Saturday Results

by Not Signed In | Recreation & Sports

Hello!

RESULTS are attached from today’s Pepsi Challenge at Harris Hill Ski Jump, February 18, 2023.

Highlights:
Vermont Governor Phil Scott attended today’s jump and gave welcome remarks to fans and athletes.
The final Target Jump at the end of the day (which is a fun competition) had a three way tie with jumps at 93M each. In the end, Slovenia’s Vid Vrhovnik took home the win.

Medicaid & Health Resource Drop-In Hours

by ESchwartz | Health

In Dec. 2022, Congress voted to eliminate the extra federal funding and requirement that states keep people on Medicaid. Vermont will be starting Medicaid redeterminations on April 1. According to the Urban Institute’s projections, up to 29,000 Vermont Medicaid recipients could be affected.

The Vermont Workers’ Center is hosting an informational session in the Meeting Room at the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on Feb. 22 between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. All are welcome to stop in to find out whether they will be affected, what their rights are in this process, and how to be sure that they aren’t cut off for bureaucratic reasons. People who are not on Medicaid and have questions about health care access are also welcome, as there will be other health care resources available. For more information, email windham@workerscenter.org.

Can The Beast Of Health Care Reform Be Revived?

by RDavis | Activism

It would be inspiring if Vermont was once again a national leader in health care reform efforts. When Peter Shumlin was Governor in the 2010’s reform activism was at a high point and the possibility of Vermont becoming the first state to implement a single payer system seemed real. When his administration ran the numbers, after costly studies were done, Shumlin decided that it was not politically feasible to move ahead and health care reform died in Vermont.

There is a bill now in the Vermont legislature that aims to revive some of those reform efforts. H.156 states, “The purpose of this act is to initiate the incremental implementation of Green Mountain Care by starting to provide comprehensive, affordable, high quality, publicly financed health care for all Vermonters in accordance with the principles established in 2011 Acts and Resolves No. 48. The act gradually expands the benefits available through Green Mountain Care over 10 years, beginning with publicly financed primary care in the first year, adding preventive dental and vision care in the second year, and adding the remaining health care services according to a schedule recommended by the Green Mountain Care Board’s Universal Health Care Advisory Group.”

New Director of Youth Programs Hired at Youth Services

by Nanci Leitch | Family

Brattleboro, VT — Megan Grove is the new Director of Youth Programs at Youth Services which has offices in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls, Vermont. This position provides department oversight regarding an array of programs that relate to supporting youth and young adults in Windham County beyond Youth Services’ clinical and restorative justice offerings.

Grove supervises staff responsible for services related to therapeutic case management; youth experiencing homelessness, couch surfing, in shelter housing, or transitional living; and youth transitioning from foster care. In addition, Grove’s team implements life skills and health education and a youth-led business.

Grove will also maintain ongoing communications with community partners and collaborative partnerships with local schools, Department of Children & Families, and other community entities to accomplish the goals of Youth Services programs.

Upcoming Online Fundraiser for the Springfield Humane Society

by janicezdogtraining | Pets

Janice Z Dog Training LLC, of Townshend, will be hosting an informative Zoom session titled “Separation Anxiety in Dogs” at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28, to benefit the Springfield Humane Society.

Does your dog howl, bark, or whimper for a very long time after you leave, have accidents in the house, or destroy furniture and door frames? He may have separation anxiety, a common behavior issue in dogs. 

U.S. Health Care Continues to Have The Worst Outcomes

by RDavis | Health

It shouldn’t be a revelation to anyone who has used the U.S. health care non-system that we have the worst health outcomes of any high-income nation. The health care statistics about the U.S. delivery of health care are alarming, but that has been the case for many decades and the situation shows no sign of changing anytime soon.

If we cut to the chase, the reason that we spend more per person on health care, that we have the lowest life expectancy at birth, that we have the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions and that we have the highest maternal and infant mortality rate among high-incomes countries is because of the profit motive.

icymi: Commentary of Mine in the VT Legislative Record

by Norsehorse | Activism

Although I have since discontinued engaging in activism and advocacy (save for continuing to focus on access to public restrooms and related matters for a few more months or so), in case you missed it and it is of interest, I just stumbled upon this commentary of mine that is in the legislative record concerning attitudes regarding people living houseless (i.e., unhoused aka homeless), fyi:

Medicaid & Health Resource Info–Drop-in Hours

by ESchwartz | Health

In Dec. 2022, Congress voted to eliminate the extra federal funding and requirement that states keep people on Medicaid. Vermont will be starting Medicaid redeterminations on April 1. According to the Urban Institute’s projections, up to 29,000 Vermont Medicaid recipients could be affected.

The Vermont Workers’ Center is hosting an informational session in the Meeting Room at the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on Feb. 8 between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Brattleboro and VT COVID-19 Regional Dashboard Summary – February 2023

by cgrotke | Health

Here’s the February 2023 dashboard summary. We continue semi-regular COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro, as long as they continue providing them.  Scroll down the new comments for the latest.

Vermont and MA have very limited looks at what are going on these days, with weekly snapshots. NH attempts daily updates but doesn’t always give new totals, and didn’t update at all at the end of January.

Hospital At Home A Flawed Model

by RDavis | Health

There has been a movement over the past few years to energize the concept of providing some degree of hospital level care at home. Medicare has been modifying its rules to pay for projects that move in this direction and some policymakers are touting this concept as a welcome addition to the health care system.

The Hospital at Home program is quite simply a bad idea. Why would we want to beef up the hospital system of care when it is clear that we should be putting the majority of our health care dollars into prevention, not into patching things up after they go bad?

Hospital care should be the care of last resort. When things break and diseases take hold hospitals do a good job of fixing things. But hospital type care should not be a model for how a health care system moves forward into the future.

Healthcare Resource Info Hours

by ESchwartz | Health

In Dec. 2022, Congress voted to eliminate the extra federal funding and requirement that states keep people on Medicaid. States will be able to start Medicaid redeterminations on April 1. According to the Urban Institute’s projections, up to 29,000 Vermont Medicaid recipients could be affected.

The Vermont Workers’ Center is hosting two drop-in informational sessions in the Community Room at the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro. The sessions will be on Jan. 25 and Feb. 8, between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Members of the public are welcome to stop in to find out whether they will be affected, what their rights are in this process, and how to be sure that they aren’t cut off for bureaucratic reasons. People who are not on Medicaid and have questions about health care access are also welcome, as there will be other health care resources available. For more information, email windham@workerscenter.org.

The Politics of Insulin

by RDavis | Health

A reasonable person might think that if a disease affects the lives of 38 million Americans, or 11 percent of the population, that measures would be in place to make life a little more bearable for them. Don’t hold your breath. Diabetes is a difficult disease to manage under the best of circumstances, but when people with the disease don’t have enough political power their needs take a back seat to the profits of the pharmaceutical industry.

This is not a revelation. What I am mostly talking about is the obscenely high price of insulin. People with Type I diabetes require daily insulin and they make up five to ten percent of all diabetics. About 30% of type 2 diabetics require insulin.

About eight million Americans rely on insulin to stay alive. Not a critical mass for politicians to get worked up enough, especially when you consider that lower income people and people of color represent a higher number of insulin-dependent diabetics.

My Good Friend Mark Is Looking For An Apartment

by SK-B | Home & Garden

I have a friend, who wishes to rent an apartment in Windham County. His name is Mark Laurence. I have known him for about 5 or 6 years. Through a VA program, Mark’s rent can be up to $1,000 per month. He currently lives and rents in Massachusetts.


I think that Mark’s good character makes him a desirable tenant. He is guided by an internal compass, so that he can be counted on to meet his obligations. In fact, Mark goes beyond his obligations. When he visits me and Donna, he cannot stop himself from noticing something that needs to be fixed, and insists on taking care of it. He is skilled, and has a knack for knowing exactly what needs to be done. (He even fixed a clothes dryer for us which we thought needed to be junked, and now works perfectly) At his present residence, Mark has made repairs at no charge to his landlady.