A Message From Our Leadership
Dan Bennett, President and CEO, and Vic Ribaudo, Board Chair
We’re at a unique reflection point in our health care system in Vermont.
As we focus on the future and how we continue to meet patient needs, we are reminded of the value we have long provided our local communities. While change is inevitable and necessary, we also need to preserve what is good and essential: access to care, close to home, something Gifford has provided our region for nearly 120 years.
We are committed to providing that access locally, with the type of services, both primary care and specialty, that are appropriate for small, rural clinics and hospitals. Because access is impacted by geography and demographics—it’s not easy for many in our patient population to travel to Montpelier or Lebanon—we are doing what we can to preserve their services here, where they call home.
Our community’s continued support is vital to helping us follow through on that commitment, and as we work with the Green Mountain Care Board and initiatives like Act 167 focused on health care reform. Rural does not mean less than. Rural does not mean our patients are less deserving of services offered in more populated areas.
We have a lot of work to do, in general, to preserve the features of a rural lifestyle that so many of us desire—and that so many of our colleagues talk about in our lead story here, in our 2023 Gifford Health Care Annual Report, Redefining Rural. That includes access to high-quality health care for generations to come.
Thank you for supporting Gifford. We wish you the best in 2024 and hope to see you soon.
In gratitude,
Dan Bennett, President and CEO
Vic Ribaudo, Board Chair
