For Release: February 25, 2005

Sona Iyengar

Fletcher Allen Public Relations

(802) 847-2886

Fletcher Allen to Hold Public Forum on Community Report March 8th

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Fletcher Allen Health Care will hold a public forum March 8th to discuss its recently released Hospital Community Report, which includes information on the quality of care Fletcher Allen provides to patients.

At the forum Fletcher Allen also will offer the public an opportunity to provide input into its strategic planning process. Fletcher Allen is currently developing a three-year strategic plan for the organization. In addition, Fletcher Allen will give a brief recap of the recent Community Needs Assessment it completed in conjunction with the United Way of Chittenden County and other community partners. This needs assessment is helping to inform the strategic planning process.

The forum will be held on Tuesday, March 8th, at 6 p.m. in the Burgess Building on the Medical Center Campus in Burlington.

Parking will be available in the new underground parking garage. The entrance to the garage is located just off Mary Fletcher Drive, the road that runs behind the Burgess Building along the eastern edge of the Medical Center Campus. Mary Fletcher Drive can be accessed from either the Colchester Avenue entrance or the East Avenue entrance to Fletcher Allen’s Medical Center Campus. Follow signs to “Lot C,” which is how the garage is currently identified. Guides wearing fluorescent vests will be stationed at the garage entrance to direct drivers.

In advance of the forum, Fletcher Allen's Community Report and Community Needs Assessment can be accessed on Fletcher Allen’s Web site at the following address: http://www.fletcherallen.org/AboutFAHC/2004_act53.html.        

About Fletcher Allen’s Community Report

The report – officially titled Fletcher Allen Health Care’s 2004 Act 53 Hospital Community Report – contains information on the quality of care provided to patients with heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. Fletcher Allen’s performance is compared to all hospitals nationwide, and in some cases, to academic health centers. The report also includes information about hospital finances, strategic planning, public events and activities and the organization’s system of governance.

In 2003, the Vermont Legislature passed Act 53, “An Act Relating to Hospital and Health System Accountability.” Under this new law, each hospital in Vermont was required to produce a community report by January 1, 2005 to show community members how the hospital performed on a variety of quality, safety and financial measures. The law also required hospitals to publish a Community Needs Assessment. 

To view other Vermont hospitals' reports, visit the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems Web site at www.vahhs.org, or the individual hospital’s Web site.