Bob Ortmyer to Serve as Interim in Addition to Current Role at Elizabethtown Community Hospital

Middlebury, VT – The University of Vermont Health Network – Porter Medical Center announced today that Tom Thompson will step away from his role as President and Chief Operating Officer as of September 18, in order to focus his time and energy on a pressing family health matter.

“We have had opportunities to face many challenges and achieve great success together at Porter,” Thompson said in a message to staff. “I leave feeling like my work with you all remains unfinished but know you will continue to serve and care for our patients and residents with the professional, compassionate care you have always shown our community.”

Effective September 18, Bob Ortmyer will begin serving the UVM Health Network in a dual role as Porter’s Interim President and Chief Operating Officer, in addition to his current role as President and at The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital.

Ortmyer will divide his time between Elizabethtown and Ticonderoga, NY, and Middlebury, VT. Ortmyer emphasized his continued commitment to Elizabethtown Community Hospital and to the Ticonderoga campus, where the former Moses Ludington Hospital is now a state-of-the-art 24-hour emergency department and outpatient center owned and operated by Elizabethtown Community Hospital.

“As critical access hospitals serving the Network’s southernmost service areas, we share many of the same opportunities and challenges,” Ortmyer said. “We are already benefiting from shared key roles as well as services and providers, and I am proud to work with the team at Porter during this critical time.”

“I am grateful for Tom’s service to Porter, and to the patients and community we serve there,” said Sunny Eappen, MD, MBA, UVM Health Network President and Chief Executive Officer. “I am keeping him and his family in my thoughts and wish them the best during this difficult time. While these transitions are not easy, the two critical access hospitals share many similarities. As health care partners, we support each other in our shared commitment to providing high-quality, equitable care to everyone we serve. I am confident that Porter will benefit from Bob’s leadership at this time, along with Elizabethtown Community Hospital.”

About The University of Vermont Health Network:

The University of Vermont Health Network is an integrated system serving the residents of Vermont and northern New York with a shared mission: working together, we improve people’s lives. The partners are:

• The University of Vermont Medical Center  
• The University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Porter Medical Center
• The University of Vermont Health Network – Home Health & Hospice

Our 15,000 employees are driven to provide high-quality, cost-efficient care as close to home as possible. Strengthened by our academic connection to the University of Vermont, each of our affiliates remains committed to its local community by providing compassionate, personal care shaped by the latest medical advances and delivered by highly skilled experts.