The Vermont Department of Health leads the state-wide Collaborative to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (C-PHAR). The goal of C-PHAR is to decrease the development and transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms in Vermont. Healthcare facilities around the state are working together to promote infection prevention and appropriate antibiotic use as part of C-PHAR.
In 2014 the Health Department and the Vermont Medical Society Education & Research Foundation — with funding from the CDC and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials — conducted a research project to identify ways to improve antibiotic stewardship in Vermont hospital emergency departments.
Beginning in 2017, the Health Department has supported a contract with the University of Vermont Medical Center to develop and sustain antibiotic stewardship programs in six Vermont hospitals.