TOWNSHEND, Vt. (WCAX) – Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend is getting a big boost in its effort to build a new family health clinic.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinic has seen an increase in visits by nearly 50%. Because of that, the facility is looking to expand its footprint.
Congresswoman Becca Balint visited Grace Cottage Family Health and Hospital Monday bearing gifts– $1.5 million in congressionally directed spending. The money will be used to build a new 23,000-square-foot family health clinic on the campus.
“That is our whole mission here at Grace Cottage to provide good primary care,” said Dr. George Terwilliger, the hospital’s chief medical officer.
The current clinic is “cobbled together” between two original hospital buildings that were built in the mid-1800s.
“We’ve done the best we can and our team have worked heroically in a facility that frankly really is not up to what I would like to see is standard of care for taking care of patients,” Terwilliger said.
The medical center has secured about $8 million for the project but still has a long way to go in its fundraising campaign.
Hospital officials say it’s an investment in the southern Vermont region as a whole.
“Across the country, rural health care services are being cut back because they are considered to be inefficient. Maybe we can consolidate things in larger urban centers. It doesn’t work. People can’t travel,” said Martha Dale, the president of the hospital board of trustees.
“Rural America is really struggling right now,” said Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont.
Balint says it’s an issue that has bipartisan support.
“I can sit in a budget committee meeting and explain to them why it is so needed and those are things that we can all get behind,” the congresswoman said.
The hospital still needs to raise $12 million toward its $20 million goal.
A tentative groundbreaking has been set for the spring of 2025.