July 3rd, 2026
For Immediate Release:

Windham County legislators support efforts to maintain the Birthing Center at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and are ready to work with BMH staff and leadership, the Governor’s office, the Legislature, Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB), and the entire region to find a sustainable path forward to support birthing and OBGYN services in Southern Vermont.  

Current hospital leadership and staff deserve credit for cutting a structural deficit in half, conducting ongoing rigorous internal process audits, and engaging the workforce and community while on their way to producing a balanced budget. Staff and management have been working under difficult conditions and need the region’s support.

Your legislative delegation supports the Hospital leadership’s efforts to sustain the whole hospital. We understand the budget they are about to submit to the Green Mountain Care Board will receive rigorous review. And it will receive extra scrutiny because of recent budget challenges and the need to reduce structural budget deficits. We encourage the GMCB Board to suggest actionable options for both short term and long-term sustainability.

The costs of running a birthing center are significant but the value to the region is much greater and vital to women and families. BMH staff have provided exceptional service for generations.

We have time to do this. The legislature recently passed law S.189 that lays out a process and timeline for a hospital to close an essential department in order to reduce or avoid substantial disruption to a community. We hope the bill provides time for all of us in the region to rally around our hospital and show we understand the cost and also the inestimable value the birthing center brings to us all.

As Vermont, the region, and the Town of Brattleboro continue efforts to support younger people and families, and to encourage more to move here, having a birthing center is vital to those efforts.

Your Windham County legislators look forward to helping sustain the birthing center and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital as a foundational institution in our region. We value the hospital and the people who work there, as well as the people who rely on their services. We commit to joining community efforts so the hospital and birthing center can continue to serve our region.

In commitment,

Senators Wendy Harrison and Nader Hashim and Representatives Mollie Burke, Ian Goodnow, Emilie Kornheiser, Zon Eastes, Emily Long, Mike Mrowicki, Chris Morrow, Leslie Goldman, Michelle Bos-Lun, Laura Sibilia, and Emily Carris Duncan.