SVMC to Host Women’s Health Webinar Series

BENNINGTON—January 28, 2021—This February, Southwestern  Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) will host four webinars focused on a range of public health topics designed for women in the community. This engaging webinar series women will gain knowledge and skills aimed at improving their physical, emotional, and social wellbeing from knowledgeable community partners.

“Healthy women are an integral part of a healthy community,” said Rory Price, SVMC’s coordinator of Population Health. “We are thrilled to provide opportunities for learning, sharing, and discussion, all within a judgment-free environment.”

The webinar series will be held 6 – 7:15 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays over the course of two weeks beginning on Tuesday, February 16. All are free. Interested individuals are invited to sign-up for the series or just the sessions that interest them. Those interested in attending should visit svhealthcare.org/classes-events to register.

“This webinar series will be especially useful for any woman currently navigating a substance use disorder,” said Lindsay Spitz, a SVMC’s AmeriCorps VISTA fellow, who is organizing the event. “Though we are confident that the series offers something for every woman in our community.”

Each session will feature mini-lectures led by dedicated medical staff and community partners, followed by a short question-and-answer session with the evening’s presenters. The series will also feature an opioid education component, including a Narcan administration training. Topics include:

Sexual Health 101
6 – 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Speakers include Kelsey Dueland of the Project Against Violent Encounters (PAVE); a local provider from Planned Parenthood, Bennington Health Center; and Kimberley Sampson, MD, of SVMC OB/GYN. They will cover sexual and reproductive health for women and address relationship dynamics, sexual health, and long-term contraception in a series of mini-lectures. Register

Opioid Safety
6 – 7:15 p.m. Thursday, February 18, 2021
Speakers Julea Larsen, of the Turning Point Center of Bennington County, and Sue Conely of AIDS Project of Southern Vermont (APSV), will demonstrate NARCAN administration and share information on syringe services. This session will be especially useful to any woman currently navigating Opioid Use Disorder, whether it be her own or that of a loved one. Register

Social Health 101
6 – 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Speakers including Stephanie MacCrea of the Vermont Department of Health; Shelly Faris of BROC; Wendy Callert of the Vermont Association of Business, Industry, and Rehabilitation (VABIR);  Wendy Morse of the Vermont Department of Labor; Kara Pallman of the Vermont Department of Children and Families Economic Services Division; and Maria Burt of Vocational Rehabilitation of Vermont in Bennington, will address food access and nutrition, employment, and financial literacy in a series of mini-lectures. Register

Opioid Recovery
6 – 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, February 25, 2021
Speakers including Pamela Aulicino, MSN, RN, of Southwestern Vermont Healthcare and Vermont Blueprint for Health; Themarge Small, MD, of SVMC OB/GYN; and Julea Larsen of the Turning Point Center of Bennington County will cover recovery resources available to local women. Together, they will discuss pregnancy and OUD, medically assisted therapy (MAT), and community recovery resources in a series of mini-lectures. This session will be useful to women looking to begin their recovery journey, especially expectant mothers. Register

Those interested in attending should visit svhealthcare.org/classes-events to register.

About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, health care system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.

SVMC has earned several prominent distinctions. Most recently, SVMC received the American Hospital Association’s Rural Healthcare Leadership Award for transformational change in efforts toward healthcare reform and its fifth consecutive designation within the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®. It ranked fourth in the nation for healthcare value by the Lown Institute Hospitals Index in 2020 and is one of Vermont’s Best Places to Work. SVMC earned an ‘A’ for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group for two years in a row. During the pandemic, SVMC and both its skilled nursing facilities, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation in Bennington, and the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation at Hoosick Falls, earned perfect scores on a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services evaluation meant to determine the ability to prevent transmission of COVID-19 and other infections. 

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.