Brattleboro Hospital birthing center funding crisis

In late July 2026 the Brattleboro Selectboard voted to explore a special town meeting on a municipal tax increase to fund the birthing center at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. The not‑for‑profit hospital faced a projected $14.5 million budget deficit and an estimated $4.8 million loss for its obstetric unit, threatening closure within months. Clinicians and medical groups urged Governor Phil Scott and the state Agency of Human Services to raise Medicaid obstetric reimbursement rates, noting that Medicaid covers roughly half of local births.

A week later the hospital announced a $14 million loss for the year and had already shut down its birthing center, endangering obstetric care for a region where more than 45 % of births are Medicaid‑covered. Hospital leaders and clinicians again pressed for higher Medicaid rates and sought a grant from the Rural Health Transformation Program, while a statewide study warned that most Vermont hospitals are operating in the red, prompting calls for broader health‑care financing reforms.