UVM Health Network leaders tell Vermont senators high costs reflect mission, urge payment reform

University of Vermont Health Network leaders told the Vermont Senate Health & Welfare Committee on Feb. 6 that the network is working to balance providing specialized and rural services with financial sustainability and urged a statewide move to value‑based payment models to address high health‑care costs.

Sunny, president and CEO of the University of Vermont Health Network, told the committee the network’s goal is “to serve the patients of Vermont and Northern New York” by delivering “high quality, equitable, affordable care.” She said the network operates some services at a loss — dialysis was cited as an example — and that those losses must be subsidized by other services and by negotiated commercial rates. Sunny said the network posted a 2.5 percent operating margin in fiscal year 2024, near the lower bound of what she described as sustainable (about 2.5 to 5 percent).

Jessica Michella, senior vice president for High Value Care, described the network’s efforts to manage patients differently through longitudinal care management and care teams that include nurses, pharmacists and social workers. She said the network now manages about 6,000 patients in its Longitudinal Care Management program and has opened roughly 8,000…