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Kirsten Isgro
Member since Feb 22, 2016
Recent Comments
Re: “Nurse Shortage Puts Vermont Parents on the Hook for Kids' Care”
Bravo for finally running an article on this topic. As a parent with a medically fragile child, the situation in VT is grim; our experiences with high tech in-home nursing with VNA has been less than stellar. In large part, as you mention, the pay stinks and their is few supports for in-home nursing.
Posted by
Kirsten Isgro
on 08/16/2017 at 3:34 PM
Re: “Burlington High School Students Protest Cuts With ‘For Sale’ Signs”
A big part of this painful budget cut here in the district what has NOT gotten a lot of attention is the cuts in Special Education supports. Those with developmental, physical or learning differences are marginalized; these students and their families are often under-supported, under-represented and easily excluded from the educational process. While there are fabulous para-educators, teachers and coordinators at the individual schools, there is no institutional commitment to guarantee an inclusive classroom experience for those students with disabilities.
The current Director of Special Education is leaving after 1 year on the job, and we have heard no plans to search for that position or the Director of Student Support Services (which has been vacant all year). These may not be the kids who want to AP classes and get to the best schools, but they too deserve a public education. And the staff deserve the supports needed to help these children, regardless of ability.
Posted by
Kirsten Isgro
on 05/12/2016 at 1:22 PM
Re: “UVM Medical Center Seeks to Hire Hundreds in Advance of Strike”
PLEASE DON'T BLAME THE NURSES FOR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING!!!!!!!
The UVMMC nurses are asking for 24% wage increase over 3 years. The administrators literally only picked out hospitals that had lower wages than UVMMC nurses to compare them to when deciding what they think UVMMC nurses are worth.
CVPH nurses in Plattsburgh are making 16.2% more than Burlington nurses are and their cost of living is 23.6% cheaper than here. Keep in mind that CVPH is a community hospital and UVMMC takes their sickest patients.
Nurses have asked UVMMC administrators specifically if they CAN'T afford to pay us those wages or if they Won't. They have never said once they can't, they only say they won't. That speaks volumes about how they view their nurses and the quality of care we provide. They know they are a monopoly with deep pockets and assume we can't or won't go somewhere else to work. Remember, our hospital is SUPPOSED to be non-profit!
According to a Vermont Digger article last year: "Dr. John Brumsted, the CEO of the University of Vermont Health Network and its flagship hospital, took in nearly $2.19 million in compensation that year. Brumsteds total compensation includes $979,064 in base pay and $492,000 in bonuses...Eleven other executives at the UVM Health Network and the UVM Medical Center made more than $500,000 in salary and benefits in 2015. Many of them shared in the same bonuses that Brumsted received that year for meeting financial, quality and operational goals."
To contact the hospital administration and express your concern for the lack of motivation the hospital has in coming to a contract resolution with our nurses please call 802-847-1124 or email [email protected].