![\"Rutland](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rutland-hospital-1-1200x800.jpg\")
Rutland Regional Medical Center. File photo by Mike Dougherty\/VTDigger<\/p>\nRutland Regional Medical Center. File photo by Mike Dougherty\/VTDigger<\/p>\n
Rutland Regional Medical Center will close its five inpatient pediatric beds, the hospital announced Wednesday. The change is due to a drop in the number of children who need overnight stays, according to hospital CEO Judi Fox, but it comes as hospitals across Vermont are under financial strain.<\/p>\n
Fox said most pediatric patients receive adequate care through the emergency room, outpatient visits or shorter inpatient stays. The hospital\u2019s five pediatric beds are unoccupied about half of the time. Nearly two-thirds of the hospital\u2019s pediatric patients go home the same day, according to a hospital press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cMaintaining specialized inpatient services that are rarely used is not an efficient use of staff or resources,\u201d the release stated.<\/p>\n The means that any pediatric patient needing overnight treatment will need to be transferred to the Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital at University of Vermont Health in Burlington or Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon, New Hampshire. (Fox said patient transfer agreements are still in the works for the latter.)\u00a0<\/p>\n The Rutland hospital will continue its pediatric outpatient and surgical services for same-day and short-stay care, she said. Some young adult patients needing inpatient care may be able to stay in adult inpatient units, according to the release.\u00a0<\/p>\n The hospital will also set aside rooms for pediatric patients who come into the emergency department and need longer observation. Already, about 10% of the patients seen in the emergency room are pediatric cases, Fox said. \u201cThey are already caring and experienced with this patient population,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Fox estimated that the closure will save the hospital nearly $3.1 million a year, though she stressed that the shift \u201cwas not made just because of a financial decision.\u201d She added that it is challenging to recruit and retain staff and maintain their competencies with such a low volume.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis change allows us to continue offering excellent pediatric care while demonstrating our commitment to affordability, expanding access, and delivering high-quality care,\u201d Fox said in the release. \u201cIt reflects our response to the evolving needs of patients today, as we move toward fewer hospital stays and more outpatient and community-based care options.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Rutland hospital will also maintain its gynecological, obstetric and newborn care, Fox added. The shift in care does not require the hospital to make any layoffs, though it may require the pediatric nurses and staff to apply to be reassigned. Fox hopes that this change can help offset some of the hospital\u2019s reliance on travelers.\u00a0<\/p>\n The change is expected to go into effect Dec. 21, though Fox said it may take longer to implement the formal review process before closure.<\/p>\n After UVM Medical Center, Rutland Regional Medical Center is the largest community hospital in Vermont in terms of patient services. For 2026, the state\u2019s main health care regulator, the Green Mountain Care Board, approved a $336.6 million net patient revenue for the hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n The closure of overnight pediatric beds in Rutland fits into a dire bigger picture for the state\u2019s small, rural hospitals that care board chair Owen Foster painted for legislators<\/a> earlier this October. Many hospitals in the state have extremely limited cash on hand and slim reserves. Vermonters should expect that hospitals will start cutting services, just like Copley Hospital announced<\/a> in June it would do with its birthing center, Foster said.<\/p>\n Comparatively, Rutland Regional Medical Center offered a picture of relative financial health, against the state\u2019s most strained hospitals<\/a>. For instance, in 2024 it had some of the most cash on hand<\/a> of the state\u2019s hospitals, with 244 days of reserves \u2014\u00a0UVM Medical Center, for comparison, had 136 days, while Springfield Hospital\u2019s dipped down to 42.9 days\u2019 worth, according to Foster\u2019s presentation<\/a>. For 2026, Rutland projects to have 154 days\u2019 cash on hand. Anything that falls into the 202-275 range is ranked as \u201cvery strong,\u201d in the S&P Global ratings<\/a> for nonprofit hospitals<\/a>, while 110-160 is still \u201cadequate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rutland Regional Medical Center. File photo by Mike Dougherty\/VTDigger Rutland Regional Medical Center will close its five inpatient…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":342181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[210,1141,1142,3584,168464,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-342180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-hospitals","12":"tag-rutland-regional-medical-center","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115460879613529677","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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