News

As I am sure you know, H.R.1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, passed at the beginning of July. We are keeping a close eye on the implications for Grace Cottage and our patients. It is anticipated that approximately 45,000 Vermonters will lose healthcare coverage, primarily Medicaid patients, but also those with commercial insurance.

We are committed to doing everything possible to ensure our community has access to care. We continue working closely with our state colleagues to understand how they will operationalize the mandated Medicaid verifications and support our patients and community members through these changes as best we can. If you are searching for more information, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) have helpful fact sheets, including a timeline for implementing different aspects of the bill.

Please plan to join us on the Townshend Common from 9 am to 3 pm for the 75^th Annual Hospital Fair Day! Free parking, free admission, pony rides, Specialty Booths, Auction, food galore, entertainment, a Hole-in-One contest sponsored by M&T Bank, a Birthday Parade with a stork and bagpipers, and much more. Come find out why so many people plan their family reunions for the first weekend in August, so that Hospital Fair Day can be part of the fun!

We have some exciting items for the auction this year (pictured clockwise below): a 2007 Yamaha motorcycle, a snow plow, a handmade custom four-poster bed from Clear Lake Furniture, and some truly amazing Victorian dollhouses! You can preview more items here.

All proceeds of Hospital Fair Day will go toward the long-held dream of a new primary care building at Grace Cottage. Over the past several weeks, we have submitted our responses to the questions and comments we received during the public comment period for our Act 250 permit, and expect it to be issued very soon! To date, we’ve raised $14 million toward this transformational project.

Your generous support of Fair Day will give us a boost! You can find out more about the project on our website at gracecottage.org/future.

Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital, along with Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, The Brattleboro Retreat, and Planned Parenthood of Vermont, held their 1st Annual LGBTQ+ Pride Ice Cream Social on the Brattleboro Common on Sunday, June 15th.

State Treasurer Mike Pieciak spoke at the family-friendly gathering, which followed Out In The Open’s Pride Month Liberation March through downtown Brattleboro.
Guests enjoyed ice cream while listening to live music from Luminous Crush, Space Mooooves & the Cosmic Cows, and The Willowsmiths.

We are pleased to welcome speech-language pathologist Lesley Clogston to Grace Cottage. Lesley earned her Master’s degree in Communication Disorders and Sciences at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and has been an ASHA-certified Speech-Language Pathologist since 2009. She has worked in a range of settings, including acute care hospitals, subacute rehabilitation, outpatient rehabilitation, assisted living facilities, and skilled nursing facilities.

A native and resident of Deerfield, MA, Clogston enjoys spending quality time with her two children and finds joy in watching them navigate life by inspiring and guiding others. She is motivated by personal growth and expansion and has an eclectic variety of interests, including the outdoors, wildlife, the arts, astrology, and music.

Grace Cottage has again earned a prestigious 4-star rating from the National Rural Rating System (NRRS), a program that recognizes excellence in rural healthcare.

Rural hospitals on the National Rural Honor Roll have met the highest standards for patient experience, based on cumulative ratings provided by patients during 2024-2025. Twenty hospitals attained this 4-star rating in 2025, and  Grace Cottage remains the only hospital in the Northeast on the list.

This distinction is a testament to our staff’s hard work and dedication, and I couldn’t be prouder.