COVID-19: Remote Dartmouth workers expected back in the fall

HANOVER — Dartmouth College employees who have been working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to return to campus in September.

Some employees may also be asked to return to campus temporarily this spring and summer to assist with important events or activities, Dartmouth Provost Joseph Helble and Executive Vice President Rick Mills said in a Tuesday email to the college community.

“When employees do return, our plans will include a transition period, with some employees returning sooner than others, depending on the nature of their work, and this will likely include staggered start dates,” the two administrators wrote.

Dartmouth currently has about 1,500 employees who are working fully remote from home, Dartmouth spokeswoman Amy Olson said in an email. Another roughly 1,500 are coming in one or two days a week and about 950 employees are currently on campus four or five days a week, she said.

Helble and Mills said they would share more information about the return to campus for employees later this spring or in the early summer when more is known about the impact of COVID-19 vaccinations and the rate of disease transmission.

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Doctors in Springfield Hospital’s emergency department are encouraging people in need of medical treatment to come in for care.

The department saw a “significant drop” in patient visits last year, said Dr. Douglas Nilson, the department’s medical director, in an emailed statement. The COVID-19 pandemic also has caused some patients to delay regular checkups, causing chronic conditions to worsen, he said.

“We have seen people visit the emergency room with symptoms that they have had for a while and delayed care resulted in an ED visit when, if treated earlier in the primary care setting, the ED visit could have been potentially avoided,” Nilson said in an email.

The department has separate spaces for those with COVID-19 or symptoms of it and those without, he said. In addition, he said that though Springfield Hospital has seen some patients with COVID-19, it has not been overwhelmed as some other hospitals elsewhere have been.

BETHEL — The Bethel and South Royalton campuses of the White River Valley elementary school each have had one case of COVID-19 in the past week, as has the Chelsea School.

This comes after five cases were identified at the White River Valley School high school earlier this month. Both campuses and all grade levels of the White River Valley School moved to remote instruction earlier after school officials learned of the first cases. Students are slated to return for in-person learning on March 3 following the February vacation.

SOUTH ROYALTON — Vermont Law School is set to host a virtual discussion on the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color this week.

A panel of physicians and legal and health care policy experts are slated to examine how the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing inequities in the social determinants of health, such as poverty, health care access and employment that affect the health of people of color. Conversation topics also include the impacts of government policies and laws, including immigration policies, on racial and ethnic disparities in rates of infection and death during the pandemic.

The free event, which is part of an “Embedded Racism in the Law” series, will be livestreamed at vermontlaw.edu/live on Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.