Stephen Leffler, M.D.’90, president and chief operating officer of the UVM Medical Center, CEO of UVM Health, and professor of emergency medicine at the Larner College of Medicine, joined U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as co-host of a forum attended by some 300 Burlington-area citizens, nurses, physical therapists, students, and union leaders to discuss health care concerns, the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus reports.

“We spend roughly twice as much on health care per person as any other major country,” Sen. Sanders told the crowd at the event. “You’d think if you spend this huge amount of money, you’d have the best health care system in the world. We don’t.”

“We are really good at ‘sick care;’ we need to be better at health care,” Dr. Leffler said, explaining how the American health care system is designed to treat people once they are sick. He said the system is one of the best in the world but needs a major shift. “We’re terrible at keeping people healthy and not needing that care; it’s reaching a breaking point,” he said.

As Leffler addressed questions from Sanders and the community, he acknowledged frustrations, accepted criticism, and explained the system’s limits without dismissing concerns.

Read full story at Barre-Montpelier Times Argus

This topic was also covered by Rutland Herald, WCAX-TV, and WVNY-TV.