BENNINGTON, VT –  Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Thursday joined Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) in Bennington for the ribbon cutting and celebration of its newly-modernized emergency department. The Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s (SVMC) Kendall Emergency Department, Stout Thomson Waiting Area and Outpatient Registration along with the Richard and Pamela Ader Foundation Lobby and the Jackie and Tony Marro Café includes renovations to expand emergency services and care to Bennington and nearby communities. The project was a three-year undertaking.  

“This will change the delivery of rural health care in southern Vermont,” said Sen. Welch. “Today is a celebration—for everyone who worked to make this expansion a reality, for the Bennington community, and for those in the health care workforce, providers, and staff who keep our communities healthy. They have all made the impossible achievable with this extraordinary improvement of the emergency department facilities.”  

Senator Welch recently secured $2 million of federal funding for Southwestern Vermont Medical Center through the Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) process. The funding will be dedicated to creating a new program that trains family medicine physicians specializing in rural delivery of primary care. As a member of the House of Representatives, he secured $250,000 in federal funds for SVMC to complete a facility renovation to create a mental health outpatient program for children.  

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