BRATTLEBORO, Vt., October 28, 2026 – Cancer patients in communities across southern Vermont will continue to have access close to home to cancer specialists, care planning and other advanced resources through University of Vermont Cancer Center (UVMCC) as part of a new partnership between Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) and UVM Health.

Following the departure of BMH’s longtime oncologist, this new oncology care collaborative, which launches November 1, 2026, is designed to ensure patients continue receiving high-quality cancer care locally. It will serve patients in southeastern Vermont, southwestern New Hampshire, and neighboring Massachusetts who rely on oncology services at BMH.

The program combines local, in-person care at BMH with virtual visits between patients and disease-specific oncology specialists at UVMCC. The partnership means that patients in rural areas can access the same high-quality, specialty care as those in more concentrated urban areas in an efficient, sustainable way.

"Our goal is for patients to continue to receive care at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, supported by the people and place they know and trust," said Chris Holmes, MD, division chief of Hematology and Oncology at UVMCC and medical director of Cancer Clinical Programs for UVM Health. "What is changing is that patients now have an even broader team of disease-specific oncologists supporting them."

“Patients are gaining access to world-class academic medicine while continuing to receive care in their community,” said Randall Holcombe, MD, MBA, UVMCC director and director of Integrated Cancer Programs for UVM Health.

 “For patients, this means not having to miss work or travel long distances for lifesaving care.  For physicians, it means bringing their expertise outside of the Burlington area and working with fellow clinicians across our community.  And for rural hospitals, it means helping them continue to provide excellent care to their patients in tremendously challenging times,” said Stephen Leffler, MD, chief executive officer for UVM Health. “Collaborating with hospitals across our states to support more specialty care services in a community hospital setting is exactly the right thing to do and we are glad to be a part of this new partnership.” 

"Brattleboro Memorial Hospital has provided cancer care for this community for decades, and preserving that access was incredibly important to us," said Aida Avdic, MD, chief medical officer at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. "Many of our patients face barriers to traveling long distances for care, and this partnership ensures local oncology services remain available while connecting patients to additional resources and expertise."

Collaboration is essential, clinical leaders say, because cancer care is becoming increasingly specialized and many community hospitals face growing challenges recruiting and sustaining the full range of expertise needed to support patients. Additionally, it enables expertise and clinical resources from Vermont’s academic medical center to extend support to community hospitals.

To prepare for the launch, the organizations aligned clinical systems and care processes, including protocols for ordering, reviewing and delivering treatments such as chemotherapy.

UVM Health has similar specialty-care partnerships with Northwestern Medical Center and Gifford Medical Center. Together, these partnerships are part of broader efforts to expand access to services to patients closer to home.

“Partnerships like this create new opportunities to bring expertise to rural communities,” said Dr. Holmes. “We believe this collaborative model has the potential to help address some of the challenges rural patients face in our region and across the country and create new ways of delivering leading-edge care in their communities.”