BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A decision on a new outpatient surgical center for the University of Vermont Medical Center will come this summer. The project pitches an outpatient surgical center in South Burlington with eight operating rooms, replacing the five at its Colchester campus that hospital president, Dr. Stephen Leffler, says are cramped and outdated. Hospital officials say they are behind on surgeries. About 300 patients have been waiting more than three months. The solution they propose costs $130 million. They’re asking the Green Mountain Care Board for 100 million of that. Without the new center, the hospital predicts it will be behind by more than 4,000 surgeries per year in 2030.
“To stay modern, to stay current, to have the facilities that we need, we really need to build the outpatient center to meet that demand for care for patients in our region.” said Dr. Leffler
Leffler expects to hear from the board by July and if approved the outpatient center would open in May 2026.