entered the healthcare arena at the age of 13 when I began as a volunteer at NVRH in St. Johnsbury. At the time, I came in on Saturdays and filed X-Rays that had been taken during the week. I was so excited to come in on those weekends and spend time in the hospital and I felt that my contribution was helping others. Over the next 20 years I developed and grew as a healthcare professional. At 16 I completed an Emergency Care Attendant course and started riding as a third person on the CALEX Ambulance crew. At 18 I completed Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training. By age 20 I was the third person in Caledonia County to have earned EMT-I (Intermediate) training that allowed me to start intravenous lines and give certain medications.
When I graduated from UVM with a Biochemistry degree in 1992, I was unsure of what my future plans would be. I had thought about medical school or perhaps advancing the science degree in research. I spent 2 ½ years working in St. Johnsbury as an EMT at the NVRH Emergency Department. My time there was most enjoyable when I was interacting with patients at the bedside. I decided in 1994 to go back and pursue a nursing degree. Following 2 ½ more years at UVM, I graduated in 1997 with a BS in Nursing and breezed through my licensing exam as a registered nurse (RN). I worked at Fletcher Allen Health Care from 1997-2001 in a variety of positions including Adult and Pediatric Critical Care, Emergency Department, and the Vermont Poison Center. I left Fletcher Allen in 2001 to become a travel nurse and have worked in San Diego, CA, Seattle, WA, Lebanon, NH, and Boston, MA. Today I am managing the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Dartmouth and have started work on a Master's degree in Business (MBA) as a result.
Throughout my time in nursing I have made steady and substantial progress in educating and leading others. I presently hold a full time position at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center as part of the Children's Hospital (CHaD) management team. I have taught countless healthcare providers to advance their skills and knowledge. I participate in my professional organizations and work to advance nursing as a profession.
I see many of the problems in our healthcare system firsthand. Many people are without insurance. In fact, about 15% of Vermonters are not covered by insurance at all and another 20% are significantly underinsured. Almost 80% of those without insurance or with limited coverage are working people. Our healthcare is expensive, the most expensive in the world. Our system focuses more on treatment of specific disease than on prevention of illness in the first place. There is little place in our healthcare system for alternative, proven therapies that are used elsewhere in the world at a fraction of the cost.
Healthcare touches every facet of the economy and impacts every individual in this society. For that reason, we must act to develop a healthcare system that everyone has access to and can afford to use. If elected, my priorities as your Senator would be to:
Continue to move legislation that would make healthcare a basic right for all Vermonters and not a select privilege. There are many solutions to paying for healthcare but until we settle on equal access as a philosophy, any other discussions will just result in more piecemeal programs. It is absolutely critical that we find the most equitable manner to finance our healthcare system. This may include public-private parterships, tax-based funding programs, individual premiums, or some combination. The key concept for me is that everyone should have a stake in our system, everyone should contribute something, and everyone should be incented to improve their health, thereby lowering costs.
Look at programs that will reduce the cost of healthcare that we provide. Setting a global State budget for healthcare expenditure is a good start. Encouraging the development of regional alliances among providers is a proven way to reduce duplication of services and thereby reduce costs. Investing in primary care is also a way to get maximum impact for a lower cost. Chronic illness is one place in which we expend vast financial resources. Many of our healthcare dollars are spent in managing a small number of chronic conditions. We can do better. In many other countries, chronic conditions like renal failure, heart disease, and stroke are managed with better outcomes, higher quality of care, and at a lower cost.
Encourage active participation in the healthcare discussion by the public. Too many decisions surrounding healthcare are done independent of the consumer. Transparent and public discussions about the direction our healthcare system will move are essential to good policy.
I grew up in Barnet with my first experience in the education system at the Barnet School. All through my primary school years I took advantage of the many opportunities afforded me in the schools. In addition to the high quality basic education, there were arts, music programs, field trips, and cooperative programs with museums, libraries, and other schools. My classes were of reasonable size and my teachers had good dialogue with my parents.
I attended high school at the St. Johnsbury Academy. The Academy is a prime example of a private-public partnership that provides an excellent education to its students. As St. Johnsbury lacks its own public school, the town pays tuition to the Academy, a private school instead. The result is a school that blends local day students with an international boarding program. I am very pleased that I had the opportunity to go to the Academy and feel it made a very real difference in my educational choices afterwards
Following my high school graduation, I stayed in Vermont to continue my education, attending the University of Vermont. While UVM was and is today an excellent facility, the unfortunate part of going there as a Vermonter is its high cost. I left UVM with my first baccalaureate and a $15,000 personal loan and after my second trip there to earn a nursing degree accumulated over $36,000 in debt.
We have come a long ways in providing quality in education to Vermonters. Prior legislation equalized funding across the state and helped ensure that equal access and opportunity is available no matter where in the state one lives. The unanticipated effect of that access however was a skyrocketing property tax. To that end there remains much to do in order to restore equitability to the taxpayer and still maintain revenues sufficient to operate our public schools. If elected to serve as your Senator I believe that these should be my two highest educational priorities:
Continue to work on overall education funding solutions that balance quality with appropriate levels of spending. We spend over $1 billion per year on our primary & secondary education in Vermont. We must insist that we get our money’s worth in terms of quality. In much the same way that healthcare systems must be transparent and prove quality outcomes, I believe the schools should be beholden to the same standards. To meet that goal we should favor legislation that would:
Develop and implement quality standards that all schools must meet. Please note that I differentiate this from the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) law at the Federal level as I do not believe that particular law has helped our schools improve. We need a Vermont solution to Vermont's school issues.
Support regional alliances and cooperatives that increase the availability of specialty courses for more students. Examples include foreign languages, fine arts, and technical courses.
Encourage development of private-public partnerships that provide high quality educational opportunities.
Solve the two biggest drivers of educational costs: special education and healthcare. We must examine the way we provide special education programs to ensure that they are appropriate and fiscally viable. We must also continue to work on reforming our healthcare delivery system to contain the ever rising costs. When we control these two cost drivers we will go a long ways to controlling the ever escalating educational costs.
Investigate ways to improve funding to our college bound students. Many Vermonters simply cannot assume a large debt to attend college thus they do not choose to attend. We should also recognize the fact that college is not for everyone and should support those individuals who would do well in a particular trade with the education and training they need to succeed in the work force. Businesses depend on a supply of both highly educated professionals and a supply of technically skilled and knowledgable workers to operate. We should be affording good opportunities to Vermonters on both fronts in order to meet that supply. I believe we should focus our efforts on:
Providing appropriate support to UVM and the state college system. Our funding level was ranked 50th in the nation in 2003-04 at $76.8 million total. Because of this low level of funding it costs $21,300 a year to attend UVM as an IN-STATE student. By contrast, California supports its State Colleges to a much higher level and the cost to attend is only $6,700 a year. I am not proposing that level of increase in funding, but we can do better.
Providing incentives and financial support to schools which are technical in nature and provide an alternative to traditional colleges/universities. Many Vermonters who would not attend college are well suited to a technical trade and find the opportunities to learn the needed skills are not here in Vermont. It's not a big leap to realize that when students leave Vermont to develop their educations (be it college or technical) they often do not return. We should be focusing on keeping those programs in Vermont.
Business recognizes the needs to educate and then retain students as employees in Vermont. The biggest recommendation from the business community is to develop greater cooperation with higher education, in effect a partnership, to meet the goal of higher education while maintaining a reasonable cost.
The Northeast Kingdom is a paradox of sorts. On the one hand, people enjoy the secluded and rural nature of our area. On the other hand, people want more economic development and opportunity. I believe that both can coexist well together.
When I was growing up I used to go from Barnet to St. Johnsbury to spend time with my grandparents there. Everything was in motion in St. Johnsbury; stores were bustling, the trucking company was working in full swing, “help wanted” signs were abundant. Today, I see less of this in the area. While there have been many positive signs in the economy on a national level, Vermont (and the NEK) still lag behind.
I attribute several factors to this economic situation in our region and indeed our State as a whole. First is a lack of reliable and modern infrastructure. Our roads, power systems, communications networks, and other basic infrastructures are degrading and/or inadequate. These systems simply cannot support larger industry or robust growth. Second is an inadequate supply of highly skilled/educated workers. Many people, myself included, find jobs in other parts of Vermont or out of state completely simply because of better economic opportunity. It is no secret that Vermont is "getting older"; our young people are simply not remaining in the State. In fact, Vermont has reached position #2 (out of 50) in terms of the "grayest" State. Only Maine is ahead of us in this recent survey. This migration of educated professionals results in a short supply here. Third is an insufficient level of marketing aimed specifically at recruiting business development. Fourth is a level of environmentalism that stagnates development; I believe conservation is critically important, but I also believe that we cannot completely stall reasonable development plans.
If elected to the Senate, I will work:
To invest in our basic infrastructures first and foremost. In order to do this, we must first pledge to keep all transportation related funds in the transportation budget. The transportation fund has been repeatedly borrowed from to pay for other initiatives. Tax and fee revenues collected for transportation must be used to reinvest in our roads, bridges, and travel corridors.
To look at ways to keep Vermont money in the Vermont economy. A perfect example is our long term energy plan. We have an incredible opportunity in front of us - the development of a whole new approach to energy that includes appropriate use of renewable and sustainable sources. Investing in solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, and hydrogen technologies would not only encourage development of alternative energy solutions for Vermont in a public-private fashion, but would contribute greatly to easing our dependence on out-of-State power contracts and foreign oil.
To prioritize legislation that would invest in and allow development of high speed telecommunications lines, broadband internet connection, and a broader cellular telephone system. These systems are crucial to business development.
To promote legislation that offers selected and time limited tax incentives to businesses relocating to Vermont.
