Division News


Leffler Sounds Alarm in WCAX Interview on Lack of Long-term Care Beds

March 19, 2024 by Lucy Gardner Carson

(March 19, 2024) President and UVMMC Chief Operating Officer Stephen Leffler, M.D., professor of emergency medicine, was interviewed by WCAX-TV about the worsening long-term care bottleneck that continues to stress hospital capacity.

Stephen Leffler, M.D., professor of emergency medicine and president and chief operating officer of the UVM Medical Center

(March 19, 2024) Stephen Leffler, M.D., professor of emergency medicine and president and chief operating officer of the UVM Medical Center, was interviewed by WCAX-TV about the worsening long-term care bottleneck that continues to stress hospital capacity.

The effects of Vermont’s severe lack of capacity for patients who need long-term care outside of the hospital are profound. The UVM Medical Center has for several years been among those feeling the impact, with patients sometimes waiting hours to get a bed because those who need to be moved to step-down facilities have no place to go. Just last month officials said cold and flu cases were stressing capacity, reminding Vermonters that not every illness requires a trip to the ER.

The lack of long-term care beds—and the resulting negative impacts on the community—has been highlighted in numerous media recently, including VT Digger 2/22/24, Vermont Public, and VT Digger 2/8/24.

Read full story at WCAX-TV