Retreat Healthcare Union, Management and Area Legislators Convene

February 3, 2003

Brattleboro, VT -Union members, administrators and area legislators convened at Retreat Healthcare today to address the hospital and treatment center's critical importance to the community, and to identify ways the state can act to assure its continued viability. The group vigorously concurred that the region and the state simply can not afford to lose either the high-quality and in many cases unique services, nor the 422 jobs, that Retreat Healthcare provides.

Legislators in attendance included Patty O'Donnell, Steve Darrow, Phil Bartlett, Michael Obuchowski, Rod Gander, Sara Edwards, and Richard Merrick.

Retreat Healthcare has reduced its operating costs by 20% since 2000, through the restructuring of its operating systems and cost reductions in administrative and clinical support areas. At the meeting, however, three key remaining obstacles to the Retreat's continued financial viability were identified, each of which can be addressed by the state without undue financial burden:

Retreat Healthcare pays $791,000 in provider tax to the state, yet due to federal regulations, it is the only hospital in Vermont that does not recover that tax in Disproportionate Share funding.
Vermont Medicaid recipients in need of addiction treatment are not able to access treatment at the Retreat except in very limited circumstances due to the state's current admissions policies
Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospital-based psychiatric services differ from hospital to hospital for the same services.

"The Retreat's union and management have clearly had difficulties in the past. But we have resolved those with very fair agreements, and now we are working together wholeheartedly in our desire to address this crisis" said Danielle Perry, RN, Co-President of the United Nurses and Allied Professionals Union (UNAP).

Retreat Healthcare, founded in 1834, is nationally recognized for its premiere treatment in behavioral healthcare. It is a not-for-profit regional specialty psychiatric hospital and addictions treatment center, offering a wide range of diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative services for individuals of all ages. It is Vermont's only psychiatric hospital for children, and at the forefront of such critical behavioral healthcare issues as heroin addiction, borderline behaviors, severe depression and post traumatic stress disorder. Retreat Healthcare is a member of the Ivy League Hospitals network, and serves as a practicum site for numerous college and university programs, including Smith College School of Social Work, the Universities of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and Antioch New England. With 422 employees, Retreat Healthcare is one of Vermont's largest employers, and, according to Windham County Senator-elect Rod Gander, "constitutes one of the most important economic foundations of Windham County."

For information contact: Maria Basescu, 802-258-6161

or email: mbasescu@retreathealthcare.org