With a worsening early flu outbreak across the country causing a run on vaccines on the Island, the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and Island boards of health announced that they will hold a free clinic Sunday for Islanders seeking flu vaccinations. The clinic will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the hospital, Edgartown health agent Matthew Poole said. The clinic will be held in the physician's office building from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the hospital, Edgartown health agent Matthew Poole said.
The Providence VA Medical Center has awarded a contract to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital to provide basic medical care for veterans, one of the last steps in restoring on-Island health care access for Vineyard veterans.
With another step completed toward restoring on-Island health care access for veterans, members of the Providence VA hospital are planning an on-Island trip for early October for a town hall meeting with veterans and discussions with Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
This week came word that the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital had signed a new contract for veterans’ health care; the last remaining step is contract approval from the Providence VA Medical Center.
A new contract between the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and the Veterans Administration to allow on-Island health care for veterans is under final review, the Chilmark selectmen learned on Tuesday night.
Vineyard veterans have had no access to primary care on the Vineyard since a previous contract expired several years ago.
In a letter sent to the Chilmark selectmen on August 15 Vincent Ng, the director of the Providence Medical Center where many Island veterans have had to travel for care, reported the good news.
Islanders seem to voice the complaint nearly as often as they grumble about summer traffic backups at the blinker light and spiking prices at the gas pump:
You can’t find a primary care doctor on the Island.
Citing a decline in use and changes to the health insurance industry, the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital is reporting an operating loss for 2011, the first unprofitable year in about a decade, the hospital said.
The hospital reported an operations income loss of $591,855 from April 2011 to April 2012. While total revenue was up from the previous year, expenses also increased at a higher rate.