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The new walk-in clinic for people experiencing a mental health crisis will open on Oct. 28. Social service providers hope it will reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments.

Dr. Bruce Hamory, with the consulting firm Oliver Wyman, told ¿ªÔÆÌåÓý he regrets the report contained inaccurate annual birth and emergency department numbers for North Country Hospital, but, he says they don’t change the overall trend of Vermont’s hospital system heading for financial unsustainability.

Health care is a top issue for Vermonters this election. Here's how your vote can impact future decisions about Vermont's health care system.

The event, held by North Country Hospital, was in response to a state-commissioned report that recommended it reconfigure all inpatient beds, convert the emergency department to urgent care and shift birthing to other places except in emergencies.

University of Vermont Medical Center is pausing the $130 million project after the Green Mountain Care Board reduced the hospital's budget for the 2025 fiscal year.

Vermont health officials have urged people in some Vermont towns to avoid going outdoors between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. to minimize risk of contracting Eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, from infected mosquitoes.

Vermont advocates also hoped to encourage people to participate in the upcoming general election.

“There is no hospital in Vermont that is not in jeopardy,� stressed the consultant who led work on the report. Recommendations include closing inpatient beds and converting emergency departments into urgent care centers at Gifford Medical Center, Grace Cottage, North Country, and Springfield hospitals.

The union representing health care and higher education employees, AFT Vermont, says it’s doubled the number of workers in its ranks over the last six years.

The center, which will open Oct. 28, is meant as an alternative to the emergency room for people who are having a mental health crisis, but don’t need acute medical or inpatient psychiatric care.