Southwestern Vermont Medical Center plans a family medicine residency program housed in phase two of Bennington’s Putnam Block. The three year program will train six residents annually, reaching 18 total, with a targeted opening in summer 2029 following an eight to ten month fit out of shell space.
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center is preparing to establish a family medicine residency program in downtown Bennington, a move its leadership frames as central to addressing physician shortages in rural Vermont. Dr. Estevan Garcia, the hospital’s president and CEO, outlined the plans during a healthcare panel with U.S. Sen. Peter Welch held at the Bennington Fire Facility.
The three year program will accept six residents annually, building to a steady state of 18 physicians in training. SVMC intends to house the program on the ground floor of phase two of the Putnam Block, a mixed use redevelopment near the hospital. Developers will deliver the space as a shell, and the hospital expects an eight to ten month build out to convert it into a training center. A summer 2029 opening is the target.
Significant groundwork precedes that date. Garcia said he must hire a program director, a practicing physician who will split time between building the program and seeing patients, followed by six to eight additional training physicians before the hospital can apply for accreditation. Those faculty physicians will maintain their own local practices.
SVMC also plans to strengthen its nurse practitioner and physician assistant training, and will partner with a community health center and organizations such as Turning Point on resident education. Garcia, a pediatric emergency medicine physician six months into his tenure, described workforce as the hospital’s greatest challenge, according to reporting by Mark Rondeau in the Bennington Banner.