Kathryn Czaplinski
/ Categories: NEWS, 2024

SVMC to offer expanded vascular services, starting in February

Bennington, VT—January 29, 2025— The Heart and Vascular Center at Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) is expanding services to Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s (SVMC) Cardiology department in Bennington. This expansion will allow patients to stay closer to home for consultations, relevant testing, and follow-up care.

Starting Wednesday, February 12, SVMC, a Dartmouth Health member, will provide vascular services two days per month, with plans to expand in the future. DHMC vascular surgeons Matthew J. Alef, MD, and Philip P. Goodney, MD, will see patients in the SVMC Cardiology office twice a month, and perform procedures on the second Wednesday of each month.

“Our collaboration with the Heart and Vascular Center will be incredibly beneficial to patients,” said Scott W. Rogge, MD, SVMC Cardiology medical director. “This is an exciting and necessary expansion of services, to keep patients closer to home, which is not only more convenient but also leads to better outcomes.”

Under the new program, Alef and Goodney will perform procedures like vein ligation, phlebectomy, and ablation at SVMC, with more complex procedures managed at DHMC.  

“We are very excited to see patients in Bennington at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center” said Goodney, section chief of vascular surgery at Dartmouth Health. “Patients with vascular disease often have difficulty traveling, and expanding the services we can provide locally will be an important next step. We look forward to providing vein care in Bennington, and also seeing patients for dialysis access, treatment for leg artery blockages, carotid artery blockages, and abdominal aortic aneurysms. We are pleased to continue to build our outreach pathways to include on-site services in Bennington.”

Trey Dobson, MD, SVMC’s chief medical officer and vice president of clinical services, said the vascular collaboration is a benefit of being part of the Dartmouth Health system.

“Bringing the expertise of these accomplished vascular surgeons to SVMC helps us meet an important need in our community hospital,” said Dobson. “Our skilled team at SVMC Cardiology will work closely with the DHMC team to provide the highest quality of care, and we hope to grow this program in the future.”

Physician referrals for vascular services are now being accepted by calling SVMC Cardiology at 802-442-0800. Find more information about SVMC Cardiology by clicking here

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Cautious Entertaining

After almost 3 months of staying home and with the weather getting nicer, many of us are itching to invite friends over and catch up. While this is a natural inclination, it should be approached with significant caution. COVID-19 is still circulating. If you are planning to host, follow these helpful tips for a safe gathering at your home.

Keep the numbers small. Invite as few people as possible. One-on-one meetings are safer than group gatherings. The recommendations from Vermont Governor Phil Scott recommend 25 or fewer. I would still aim for fewer than 10, especially depending on the size of your entertaining space.

Choose invitees carefully. You should know almost everything about the socializing habits of the people you are inviting. Your guests should be as careful in their social interactions as you are in yours. You should also trust that your guests would be cancel if they were feeling ill, as should you if you are suddenly symptomatic. Those at high risk, due to age or a medical condition, should be very careful about hosting or accepting invitations.

Stay outside. Outdoor air movement disperses aerosolized particles more readily than indoor environments. And plenty of space outside allows guests to stay distanced. UV light, like the rays found in sunshine, may also provide some small benefit. It has been shown to decrease the viability of the virus on objects, but it is not yet clear how intense the light must be and for how long the object needs to be exposed in order to kill the virus.

Keep it short. Duration of exposure to others has been identified as a key risk factor. The longer you are near someone shedding the virus, even if they don't have symptoms, the greater your likelihood of catching it yourself. While it is awkward to say that you are inviting people over for a 10-minute chat in the driveway, this is certainly among the lowest-risk types of socializing.

Clean beforehand. If you expect guests to touch anything, the arms of patio chairs, for instance, wipe them down in advance. Ask everyone to sanitize or wash their hands as they arrive, if they touch their face, and about every hour or so.

Stay distanced and masked. People standing tend to drift. Place chairs 6 feet apart so that people will be more likely to stay apart. Unless you are eating, keep your masks on. Share this expectation in advance, so your guests bring their masks with them.

Limit contact points. If you are preparing food, be sure to wash well before cooking and ensure everyone has a portion of his or her own. Forget about platters of vegetables or bowls of chips everyone shares and even buffets, where people share spoons and tongs.

Clean after. Wipe down anything your guests may have touched after they leave.

Keep track. Be sure to take note of who was there, the date of the social event, and each guest's contact details. If any one of the attendees becomes ill with COVID-19 or learns that they may have been exposed at the time of the event, they will be able to reach out directly to the others and to share information readily with contact tracers.

With these tips, you can host a relatively safe get-together and relieve some of the social isolation of the past several weeks. Do know, however, that no party—regardless of how careful—is risk free. Weigh the risks, decrease those you can, and then, try to have fun.

Donna Barron, RN, is the infection preventionist at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

 

 

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