RANDOLPH, Vt., March 24, 2023 — The last year saw many continued struggles in the health care industry, but with Gifford’s dedicated staff and solid connections to partner organizations, Gifford celebrated many successes at the 118th Annual Meeting on March 15, 2023.
Gifford’s President and CEO, Dan Bennett shared “I am a firm believer that health care is a team sport. It takes every single one of us doing our job well in order to ensure good patient outcomes and experiences.” The meeting and Gifford’s 2022 Annual Report, focuses on the importance of community collaborations. “It will not come as a surprise to anyone that the needs in our communities are significant and they are greater than Gifford alone can address,” Bennett stated.
While there were challenges in Fiscal Year 2022, Gifford posted a $3.7 million operating loss, Bennett noted the positive accomplishments by the Gifford team over the last year including:
- Welcoming twelve new clinicians to the Gifford team.
- Kicking off the popular Gifford Listening Tours which will continue in the spring of 2023 with partner agencies.
- 9,277 families were served this past year at the popular VeggieVanGo event and monthly deliveries of food to area senior centers and food shelves.
- Moving forward with the implementation of a new Electronic Health Record. This SOLE system will replace three currently in use.
Gifford is focusing on a financial improvement plan that focuses on reducing the reliance on temporary labor, improving access for patients, and updating the Gifford Retirement Community (Menig Nursing Home and Strode Independent Living) strategic plan.
Community scholarships and awards presented
Gifford awarded Marissa Waite the Dr. Richard J. Barrett Scholarship, a $1,000 award for a Gifford employee or an employee’s child pursuing education in health care. A successful graduate of Gifford’s Medical Assistant program in 2019, Waite is a treasured member of Gifford Primary Care team. She is now pursing her LPN degree with the goal of moving on to be a registered labor and delivery nurse.
The Bethel Area Food Shelf and Chandler Center for the Arts each received the $2,000 Philip D. Levesque Memorial Community Award, given annually in memory of Levesque’s commitment to the White River Valley. The volunteer-led, volunteer-supported Bethel Food Shelf will use the funds to provide fresh produce, shelf stable staples and holiday meals to the communities of Bethel, Barnard, Stockbridge, and Pittsfield.
With years of wear, Chandler will put their funding to good use to purchase the supplies to replace the stage floor wood sheathing. The work will be completed by staff and local volunteers.
Board elected and service recognized
Long time Gifford Board of Director and Trustee Lincoln Clark was recognized for his years of service. Clark recently completed his second 12-year term with a brief hiatus in between. During his service to the community, Clark held the role of board chair, participated on most committees and successfully led capital campaigns. Clark was thanked for his many contributions and unwavering support of Gifford and the greater community.
The following slate of officers were introduced, Vic Ribaudo of Rochester, Chair; Megan Cicio of Northfield, Vice Chair; Peter Reed of Braintree, Secretary; and Jody Davignon of Randolph, Treasurer. Morgan Rilling of Randolph Center, Matt Considine of Randolph and Jeff Nelb of Rochester were elected and re-elected to the Board of Directors and Trustees.
For more information about the 2022 Annual Report, visit https://giffordhealthcare.org/annual-report-2022/.
Nursing Recruitment, Retention and Residency
Gifford Vice President of Nursing, Jill Markowski provided an overview on the current nationwide nursing shortage. It is predicted that this historical shortage is the outcome of a variety of factors including “retirement drain” with the loss of an experienced workforce, an aging workforce and impacts of COVID.
This is a nationwide problem and Gifford is not immune, especially as we see the impact on our bottom line with the increased utilization of traveling nurses. An estimated 1.2 million new registered nurses will be needed by 2030 to address the current shortage. In Vermont, it is predicted that we will need over 6,200 healthcare positions filled (new positions + replacement positions) with 42% being Registered Nurses and 24% being Licensed Nursing Assistants.
In response, Gifford has redesigned its Nurse Residency program and Nurse Preceptor training. With the support of Gifford’s Nurse Educators, Andra Perreault and Kelsey Waite, 31 Gifford staff members have successfully completed the Preceptor training and the Nurse Residency program was launched last spring.
In addition to education for nurse preceptors, the methodology for new hire orientation was also remodeled. The clinical teams have adopted the Tiered Skills Acquisition Model as the evidence-based orientation model to evaluate nurse grads on competencies and preparedness. This model has the new nurse partnered with their nurse preceptor caring for a standard assignment. The new nurse is exposed to all elements of care but the responsibility starts minimal and increases as the tier are completed and competency is demonstrated.
