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Grace Cottage Hospital is a not-for-profit hospital with a long tradition of providing benefit to the communities of rural southern Vermont. Grace Cottage continues to respond to community needs with programs that increase access to health care and improve the health of the community. Grace Cottage’s community benefit programs are designed to address specific community health needs in meeting its charitable tax-exempt purpose of providing excellence in health care and well being, putting people first.
Grace Cottage Hospital is a Critical Access Hospital located in rural, mountainous Townshend, Vermont. The hospital is served by a Board of Trustees consisting of local citizens active in community businesses and organizations. Only one of the eleven trustees, a physician, is a hospital employee. All trustees reside in the hospital’s service area and bring a wide range of community input to the hospital’s strategic planning process.
Although we are Vermont’s smallest Critical Access Hospital, Grace Cottage Hospital believes that we all have a responsibility to help others in need regardless of their ability to pay. The hospital makes extensive efforts to educate both patients and staff about our various payment plans and charity care, and employs a resource advocate to help patients locate and procure services for which they may qualify. The hospital houses the local patient transport ambulance service, Rescue, Inc., free of charge, to respond to medical emergencies in the area; and collaborates extensively with local, regional and state disaster preparedness organizations. Grace Cottage Hospital responded to the community need for improved access to wellness programs through organizing a Community Health Fair; and also opened a Community Wellness Center on hospital grounds in December 2010, which is heavily used by the elderly population for programs designed to prevent falls, broken bones, and with the objective of decreasing the incidence of institutionalization within this vulnerable population.
Despite its small size, Grace Cottage Hospital is committed to giving back to the community to the greatest extent possible. Area non-profit organizations providing health-related and emergency preparedness-related services to the community are provided with meeting and training space at the hospital. In response to the last Community Health Needs Assessment, the hospital has worked collaboratively with local schools and organizations to promote healthy, fun activities and provides opportunities that make the most of staying as healthy as possible. Grace Cottage Hospital applies all surplus funds towards improving its ability to provide quality patient care and being an integral part of assuring the health and well being of the community.
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