As our Board Chair, Joe Kraus, just mentioned, last September marked Rutland Regional Medical
Center's 125th year of service to Vermonters. This milestone did not receive the usual fanfare
as our hospital was focused not on celebrations but on preparing for another wave of attack
from the COVID-19 virus; and as we now all know, last fall and winter
was the most challenging period for us in the entire pandemic. We did not think we would be in
this position as we had just finished providing over 60,000 vaccination shots to our community.
Our staff were fatigued and battle weary from the toll of the prior eighteen months, yet they knew
ultimately if they did not continue, there would be no one else who had the ability
to care for those suffering from COVID, as well as other severe illnesses and injuries.
And I am tremendously proud to announce that we succeeded in our efforts.
Against overwhelming challenges, we successfully treated hundreds of patients suffering from the
effects of COVID. Working together we ensured that critical health care services were available
throughout this period and that we did not have to close beds or discontinue essential services
like other hospitals throughout the country were forced to do.
We established critically needed COVID testing centers and vaccination programs; and we partnered
closely with the Vermont Department of Health, the Vermont Agency of Human Services, and the Vermont
Emergency Management Agency to coordinate care and treatment throughout this period.
We are fortunate to have had the steady and principled leadership of Governor Phil Scott and
his administration. Governor Scott’s guidance in responding to this crisis made Vermont the
most successful and admired state in the nation in our approach to protecting our communities.
But despite this success, this has come at a cost.
Our staff have been through two years of protracted trauma and have been operating
in continual crisis response mode. All of us throughout our country,state and community
have been through a period of extreme stress where we were concerned about the health of our parents
and our vulnerable friends and neighbors who had underlying health problems.
We have been concerned about the impact on our school-aged children.
We have been isolated from our loved ones and have not been able to have been with them in
the hospital or to attend important events in person like graduations and weddings. We have
all suffered throughout this pandemic – the most devastating public health crisis in our lifetimes.
But unlike other workers, those on the front lines of health care haven't just carried their
own burdens, they have also taken on the fears, anxieties and suffering of those in their care.
In response throughout the country, many health care professionals simply threw in the towel
in fact the Atlantic Magazine estimates that the United States has lost as much as 20 percent
of its healthcare workforce over the past two years. At Rutland Regional,
workforce recruitment and retention is our top priority as we work to recover from the pandemic.
Today the pandemic itself has largely slipped out of the public eye, upstaged by politics,
foreign affairs and the dramatic resurgence of inflation. Still the COVID-19 death toll
in the United States will soon surpass 1 million lives with over 80 million Americans infected.
And despite the fact that we are done with COVID, it remains to be seen if COVID is done with us.
As we in healthcare turn our attention to the future, we see more uncertainty than ever.What
will COVID look like going forward? How successful will we be in our plans to rebuild our workforce?
What will the demand be for the dozens of essential health care services we provide our
community? Will the spirit of partnership with our payers and regulators continue?
Will Vermont maintain its position as one of the healthiest states in the nation
with one of the most progressive and lowest cost health care systems?
I don't know the answer to these critical questions, but I do know that the solutions
will come from the same resolve and cooperation we all demonstrated throughout the pandemic.
Rutland Regional stands ready and willing to do our part. I remain inspired by the grit
and selflessness of our employees. As we move forward from the crisis stage of the pandemic,
they continue to show up to do what is needed to be done.
As we move forward to brighter days and new challenges, we want to shed light on some of
the people who are there for our patients at their time of need. This year's annual report
attempts to tell some of the unseen, unheard stories of Rutland Regional 's employees.
We've created a video series called 19 stories to document the pandemic here at our hospital.
This project consists of interviews with our staff,
both those who are on the front lines of care and those who work behind the scenes
keeping our hospital functioning. Some of these stories are joyful, reflecting on friendships
and possibilities, created in the cauldron of the pandemic. Others are as raw and painful
as the pandemic itself. Tonight I want to share part of this project with you all.
It's a short video we are calling the letter. I hope you appreciate it and the people in it
as much as I do. But first, please join me in a round of applause to recognize the Rutland
Regional employees and all those who supported our mission to protect our patients, protect our staff
and ensure the operational capability of Rutland Regional Medical Center throughout the pandemic.
if I were to write myself a letter and have it delivered back to who I was in February of 2020I
think that I would say you know this is gonna be really hard but you're gonna do your best
I’m crying and when it's over you're gonna be so proud of yourself
what would I write back to in 2020. that's a good question I guess you know not to use a cheesy
metaphor but that's a marathon not a sprint I would say good luck and face every challenge
with your best effort you're gonna make it through it you're gonna survive
you're going to be stronger than you think you were because it's going to change your
perspective on a whole lot of things you are going to be tested and you are going to be challenged
and you are going to laugh and you're going to cry and you're going to make amazing friends
and you're going to do things professionally that you didn't see coming in your future take a breath
things are going to get really, really crazy but you have this you got this you're gonna be okay in
the early days when we had no protection and there was a lot of fear and concerns we still did what
we needed to do to take care of the patients and most of those patients survived and they wouldn't
have survived if we didn't have good people at the bedside 24 7. we'll have very difficult
days but we'll all get through it and we'll get through it because of the support of the hospital
and our colleagues and the community I think the advice that I would give myself is to
know that it was going to be a marathon and we're gonna have to dig in for a long time
it's going to be tough it's not going to be easy but you can do it you will do it
and you will have your team behind you to get you through it stay strong do your job
be there for your patient do everything you can to make sure everyone knows their value
and how they can feel fulfilled in what they do have faith have faith that everything was
going to work out because there was going to be some really hard times it's stressful but
we all just kind of work as a team together and it's really wonderful it's important to take time
for yourself and to make sure you check in on the people that seem like they're okay because
anyone can smile but it doesn't mean they're actually okay on the inside take it day
by day like do the best you can it's okay to struggle it's okay to not have all the answers
buckle up it's gonna be a long ride this is not a test this is all real don't put off till tomorrow
what you can do today in your personal life get that last hug in before everything shuts down
take it seriously be prepared for what's coming brace yourself emotionally because it's gonna
be a long road when we're overwhelmed just take that time find something you enjoy,
go for a walk just breathe and let it out
we can get through this and we're strong you know we can fight this look at where we are today.