Brattleboro hospital deficit estimated at at least $30 million
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital administrators estimate at least $30 million in multiyear losses as Vermont regulators and town officials weigh next steps.
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital administrators now estimate the hospital’s multiyear losses at at least $30 million, adding financial pressure to a proposed birthing-center closure and a possible request for local taxpayer support.
The figure is not a final audited total. Hospital officials have not publicly released the underlying audit, and they say the losses extend farther back than the two years disclosed so far.
What the hospital has reported
Administrators told VTDigger that Brattleboro Memorial Hospital had a $16 million shortfall in the last fiscal year. The hospital also projects a $14.5 million deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
Those figures total $30.5 million across the two reported years. The hospital, however, has not provided a complete historical accounting or timeline for the losses. Administrators attributed the delayed financial picture to problems with reporting systems and the time required to complete the audit.
The hospital has also acknowledged receiving a $1 million state grant intended to help study and stabilize its finances. Hospital officials say they hope to reach a breakeven operating margin in future fiscal years.
State review is the next major checkpoint
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital missed the Green Mountain Care Board’s July 1 deadline for submitting its hospital budget and also missed a July 24 extension. The hospital said it expected to submit the budget later in the week.
The Green Mountain Care Board, which reviews and approves Vermont hospital budgets, is scheduled to address the situation at an Aug. 14 hearing. State budget guidance requires hospitals to submit required budget materials by July 1 and allows regulators to examine the completeness and assumptions behind the request.
The delayed filing could shape the board’s questions about the hospital’s finances, operations and plans. Additional oversight remains possible, but the board has not imposed a monitor based on the information available in the approved reporting.
Birthing-center closure remains proposed
The hospital has proposed closing its birthing center within six to nine months. The closure is projected to account for $4.8 million of the current-year deficit, according to hospital statements reported by Vermont Public and VTDigger.
The center remains open for now. Hospital leaders have cited declining birth volumes, rising operating costs and difficulty recruiting and retaining obstetric clinicians. Vermont Public reported that 230 babies were born at the hospital in 2024, down from 325 in 2014.
For families in southeastern Vermont, the dispute is about more than the hospital’s balance sheet. Closing the service could require some patients to travel outside the region for deliveries, with the nearest cited alternative in Keene, New Hampshire, about a half-hour away.
Brattleboro taxpayers may face a decision
The Brattleboro Selectboard was scheduled to consider whether to call a special Town Meeting for Sept. 2 to debate possible municipal financial support tied to preserving maternity services. The town’s meeting notice confirms the July 28 special meeting, but the available official material does not confirm that a Sept. 2 vote was approved.
No funding amount has been determined, and no voter approval has occurred. Any municipal support would therefore remain a proposal rather than an approved taxpayer obligation.
What remains unresolved
The key items to watch are the hospital’s delayed budget filing, the unreleased audit, the Selectboard’s action on a possible special Town Meeting and the Green Mountain Care Board’s Aug. 14 review.
Until those records and decisions are available, the hospital’s full financial condition and the future of its birthing center remain unresolved. The immediate stakes are access to maternity care in southeastern Vermont and the financial stability of a regional hospital that serves the Brattleboro area.
Sources
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