The University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington on November 23, 2020. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerThe University of Vermont Medical Center announced that it would pause construction on a $130 million outpatient surgery center in South Burlington, blaming the decision on recent orders from a health care regulator.The nearly 94,000 square foot surgical center, planned for South Burlington’s Tilley Drive, is slated to include six operating rooms with the possibility for more in the future. The Green Mountain Care Board, a key state regulator, signed off on the project this summer. Construction was supposed to begin this fall, the University of Vermont Medical Center said in a Friday press release, but will now be delayed until at least next year — meaning the center will open in 2027 at the earliest, the hospital said.“This is not the step we wanted to take, because we know this will delay our ability to reduce wait times for surgeries that patients desperately need,” Stephen Leffler, UVM Medical Center’s president and chief operating officer, said in the press release. “We will continue to assess the situation and proceed as soon as we are able.”Hospital officials said the decision was made to address recent orders from the Green Mountain Care Board that decreased the medical center’s 2025 budget from the amount it requested.“We appreciate UVM’s thoughtful approach and understanding of the health care affordability crisis the state is in,” Owen Foster, the chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, said in a statement. “This pause will allow UVM to continue its focus on its fundamentals and operations and I am optimistic they will be able to realize the surgery center at the right time.”Each year, Vermont’s hospitals ask the board to sign off on projected revenue from patient care and the rates they will charge private insurers for the upcoming fiscal year. Hospital fiscal years begin Oct. 1.The University of Vermont Medical Center sought the board’s permission to increase its patient revenue by 9.3% and its commercial insurance rates by 5.7% for the 2025 fiscal year.But the Green Mountain Care Board ultimately allowed it to increase patient revenue by only 3.5%. And the board ordered the hospital to actually decrease its commercial insurance rates by 1% — a decision based on the fact that UVM Medical Center brought in more patient revenue than it was supposed to in fiscal year 2023.The board’s decisions have drawn protests from medical center administrators, who have sent a flurry of letters arguing that the care board’s decisions are improper and potentially illegal.Last month, the UVM Health Network — which includes UVM Medical Center, Porter Medical Center, Central Vermont Medical Center, and three hospitals in northern New York — sent patients and community members a letter warning that the care board’s decisions would necessitate cuts to medical services.“There will be difficult decisions ahead,” read the letter, which was signed by UVM Health Network president and CEO Sunny Eappen and the presidents of the network’s three Vermont hospitals. “You have our promise they will be made with careful consideration and thought, but we know we will not be able to fully provide the level of care our communities need and deserve.”Mike Fisher, Vermont’s chief health care advocate, said in an interview that the postponement will delay the arrival of needed surgical capacity in Vermont. Fisher’s office had largely supported the project, with some reservations.“It’s hard to see this postponed, because we do need more access for an outpatient surgery center,” he said. But, he added, as health care costs in Vermont increase rapidly, taking greater care with the project’s finances is a valuable process. “It’s not a bad thing for UVM to pause and make sure we know how we’re going to pay for all these things,” he said. Read the story on VTDigger here: UVM Medical Center postpones surgical center construction, citing regulatory decisions .