Ask N.B. to recount the lowest point in her life and she doesn’t have to stop and ponder. In October 2006, the Jericho native recalls, the father of her child had kicked her out “for the 50th time.” An intravenous drug habit had withered her down to 85 pounds, and both her arms were bruised, from wrists to shoulders. Then she discovered she was pregnant again. read more
Nicole and Justin Matten of Barton have lived every parent’s worst nightmare. On December 2 their 7-year-old daughter, Kaylynne, visited her physician for an annual checkup. She got a flu shot. The next day, she developed a bad headache and fever. On December 6, the normally happy and healthy girl, who had no previous history of chronic health problems or adverse reactions to vaccines, turned blue, stopped breathing and died in her mother’s arms. read more
Ask N.B. to recount the lowest point in her life and she doesn’t have to stop and ponder. In October 2006, the Jericho native recalls, the father of her child had kicked her out “for the 50th time.” An intravenous drug habit had withered her down to 85 pounds, and both her arms were bruised, from wrists to shoulders. Then she discovered she was pregnant again. read more
Nicole and Justin Matten of Barton have lived every parent’s worst nightmare. On December 2 their 7-year-old daughter, Kaylynne, visited her physician for an annual checkup. She got a flu shot. The next day, she developed a bad headache and fever. On December 6, the normally happy and healthy girl, who had no previous history of chronic health problems or adverse reactions to vaccines, turned blue, stopped breathing and died in her mother’s arms. read more
Readers respond to an Op-Ed essay about the difficulty of finding hospice facilities for some patients.
The patient needed hospice care, but the system simply wouldn’t allow it unless we were certain that she would die within six days.
What happens when elderly patients are told that death is imminent.
Ten years ago, Vermont boasted one of the highest rates of childhood immunization in the country. Today, it’s almost dead last, despite near-universal health care coverage for Vermonters under the age of 18. Among children between 19 and 35 months old, Vermont’s vaccine rate is an abysmal 65 percent, the lowest in New England and among the worst in the country. read more
The program was popular, but after two and a half years, Partners in Palliative and Home Care will close.
Governor Shumlin appoints board members to work on Vermont health care system.
Citizens in Massachusetts are gathering signatures in hopes of placing a "death with dignity" law on the ballot.
Like most Americans, Ondis Eardensohn didn’t know the U.S. had a prescription drug shortage — until she experienced it firsthand. On August 8, the retired postmaster drove two hours from her home in Plainfield to New Hampshire’s Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for an infusion of Doxil, one of the only viable treatments for her stage-4 breast cancer. Eardensohn was waiting for the medicine when her physician walked in. “I’m sorry,” the doctor told her, “but we don’t have enough Doxil to treat you.” read more
Glenn Myer runs a different kind of community-supported agriculture, aka CSA. Instead of sending “members” home with arms full of locally grown tomatoes and freshly baked bread, he gives them regular supplies of high-potency cannabis buds, pot butter and THC-laced tinctures. read more
Blood services were considerably different back in 1982 when Susan Parmer started as a staff nurse with the American Red Cross Blood Services. In those days, the organization didn’t have its now-recognizable bloodmobile. She and the other nurses just piled in a fleet of navy-blue Town & Country station wagons and “ran the roads” of Vermont and northern New Hampshire for days at a time, in all kinds of weather. The “product” was either kept on ice or shuttled back to Burlington for distribution to nearby hospitals. read more
Whose interests are being served?
Rachel Phillips has a history of defying long odds. The Florida-born ballerina beat out 14,000 competitors to win a coveted spot in London’s prestigious Royal Ballet. As a professional dancer, she traveled all over the world, and once shared a stage with Rudolf Nureyev. read more
Dartmouth-Hitchcock recognized for palliative care services available to New Hampshire and Vermont residents.
Payment structure stacks decks against small, nonprofit hospices.
Three music therapists from MJHS Hospice and Palliative Care crisscross the city and suburbs to sing songs to the dying.
Suzanne De Chillo was a little scared when she set out to create a photo essay about palliative care and music therapy. Her fears went away when she heard the music.
Medicare’s bill for end-of-life care quadrupled from 2000 to 2009, and claims of misuse mounted.
A program of Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden & Grand Isle Counties
With generous support from the Palliative Care Collaborative, The University of Vermont College of Medicine
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