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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 mission 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 wealth 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. In 2011, Grace Cottage Hospital responded to the community need for
local access to wellness programs through organizing a Community Health Fair, and exercise classes
at the Community Wellness Center on the hospital’s grounds. These programs are heavily used by the
elderly population for programs designed to prevent falls and broken bones. The objective is to maintain
the participants’ independence in their own homes and 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 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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