Living Healthy Together

Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) – nurse practitioners, physician assistants, midwives, CRNAs and others – are reshaping how health care is delivered. In this episode, we sit down with APPs leaders and clinicians from across University of Vermont Health, to learn how these practitioners are impacting everything from the state and national policies that define APP clinical practice, to the team-based care models driving health care delivery. 

You’ll hear stories from practitioners across Vermont and northern New York who are advancing education, policy, mentoring emerging providers and redefining what modern, team-based health care looks like. From midwifery expansion serving rural communities to an innovative “transition-to-practice” program at the largest hospital in northern New York, we dive deep into how advance practice providers are impacting today’s workforce challenges and shaping the future of medicine. 

Whether you’re a patient, health care professional or just curious about how care is evolving, these conversations offer an inside look at one of the most important evolutions in health care today. 

Explore the rapidly evolving world of structural cardiology through the story of Dorsey Naylor of Jericho, Vermont. An avid cross-country skier, hiker and lifelong outdoor enthusiast, Dorsey’s life changed dramatically in 2023 when she was diagnosed with severe mitral and tricuspid valve regurgitation. Groundbreaking minimally invasive valve therapies helped Dorsey recover much of her heart function and mobility, ensuring she can continue to do the things that nourish her body and spirit. 

Structural cardiologists Harold Dauerman, MD, Tanush Gupta, MD, and Rony Lahoud, MD, share insight and expertise on two decades of innovation that have transformed treatment for once nearly-untreatable valve diseases; and how adapting a nearly century-old surgical procedure could be life-changing for individuals unable to maintain a healthy blood pressure. 

Learn how UVM Medical Center’s structural cardiology team is offering patients safer procedures, shorter recoveries and access to leading-edge treatments that expand care options for high-risk patients. 

Even if you don’t have a rare cardiovascular condition or need specialized cardiac care, heart health impacts almost every aspect of your life. 

Join us for Heart Health on Living Healthy Together, as we sit down with experts in cardiovascular research, heart rehabilitation and prevention, exercise and nutrition related to cardiac health. As we celebrate Heart Month 2026, you’ll learn: 

• How our deepening understanding of cardiac risk factors is improving prevention, early detection and heart care for women. 
• Why “knowing your numbers” is a critical piece of heart health for everyone – and how you can have a conversation with your own primary care provider about getting informed and understanding your own heart health and risk factors.  
• How Cardiac Rehabilitation centers across UVM Health improve heart health and quality of life for those with heart disease, and whether cardiac rehab is right for you. 
• How the Mediterranean Diet can help improve your heart health, and how you can easily incorporate aspects of it into your own eating routine. 
• Why exercise is critical for heart health – and how you can beat the winter exercise slump and make small changes to get (and stay) more active all year round. 
• How advocates for heart health and safety are working to improve healthy food options and cardiac safety protocols for young people in Vermont. 
• How vaping among young people may be leading to a rise in smoking –what that could mean for the heart health of younger generations in the decades to come, and how heart health experts and advocates hope to reverse the trend.

Gabby Makatura remembers when her life reached a breaking point. After leaving a high-stress job for what was supposed to be a period of reflection and transition, anxiety and uncertainty took hold, leaving Gabby numb and disconnected. A series of escalating panic attacks left Gabby seeking care and support in the emergency department at UVM Medical Center; she was soon back at home and facing the same challenges. 

It wasn’t until Gabby’s mother, visiting from out of state, learned about Howard Center’s Mental Health Urgent Care Center in Burlington and convinced her to visit, that she found what felt like a stable path forward. 

Opened in October of 2024, the Center is a partnership between Howard Center, Pathways Vermont, Community Health Centers, UVM Medical Center, and the Vermont Department of Mental Health. Join us as we look back on the Center’s first year providing mental health support services, and speak with mental health experts about the impact it has made, the services available, and mental health needs and challenges across our region. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call 802-488-7777 in Vermont or call, text or chat 988 in New York. 

In mid-2025, Jayme Richland of Burlington was facing multiple crises: a serious medical condition left neglected for too long had put his health – and his foot – at risk; years of living with substance use disorder had left him isolated and struggling to ensure his basic needs were met; and the sudden and looming threat of eviction while he was in the hospital recovering from surgery had put in jeopardy Jayme’s ability to continue getting the care and treatment he needed. 

Join us as Jayme shares his remarkable story of recovery and healing, and how after eviction he found stability and a place to call home through a recently-launched medical respite program at UVM Health – Home Health and Hospice. 

Hear from experts with decades of experience providing care and support to individuals experiencing housing insecurity, including Dr. Lincoln Heath of Community Health Centers of Burlington, veteran case worker and community resource coordinator Chris Lazar, and registered nurse and Medical Respite Program Director April Plante, RN, about the need and impact of Home Health’s Medical Respite Program, which is aimed at addressing gaps in care and support for individuals struggling with housing insecurity. 

At 14 years old, Kian Ruid’s life was suddenly turned upside down by debilitating headaches so powerful he couldn’t even stand upright.  An MRI revealed the reason: a rare abnormality in Kian’s brain known as an AVM – a dangerous tangle of blood vessels that causes headaches, pain, vision problems and more, as well as posing serious risks for internal bleeding resulting in seizures, stroke-like symptoms, cognitive difficulties, movement problems and other life-changing impacts. 

Once doctors found the AVM entangled with the motor center of Kian’s brain, surgery quickly became an imperative, though it came with potential short- and long-term impacts to Kian’s ability to walk – not to mention his ability to continue playing hockey. 

Join us as we speak with Kian and his mother, Rebecca Ruid, about their family’s experience navigating this life-changing medical journey and how Kian made a remarkable recovery after surgery and returned to the ice just nine months later. 

We’ll also take an inside look at the system of care, treatment and support that serves pediatric patients and their families navigating neurological conditions and diagnoses, and meet Dr. Katrina Ducis, the only pediatric neurosurgeon in Vermont and the clinician who removed the AVM that was threatening Kian’s health and wellness. 

Our relationship with food is always changing. But one thing that doesn’t is its powerful impact on our health and wellness. Join us as we dive into the concept of Culinary Medicine, a paradigm-shifting approach to food and wellness at University of Vermont Medical Center that includes everything from the hospital’s nutritional services department, to specialty programs that support cancer patients, members of the community, individuals struggling with chronic pain and much more. 

Leah Pryor, Culinary Medicine manager at UVM Medical Center, breaks down how the program has grown and developed through the years, as well as what’s next for this innovative approach to nutrition, health and wellness. 

Melissa Kelly, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, digs into healthy eating habits, how to make sustainable changes in your diet to kick off 2026, and how food science and nutrition continue to evolve, and the challenges and opportunities specific to our region. 

Alison Precort, a registered and certified dietitian and certified diabetes educator who focuses on pediatric diabetes and weight management, explores the nuances of nutrition and diet for young people, some of the major food and nutrition changes we’ve seen over the past forty years, and the complex drivers of a nationwide increase pediatric obesity.  

Alexa Valyou has faced more health care challenges in her 8 years than most people do in a lifetime. She underwent her first heart procedure less than 24 hours after being born and her first open heart surgery when she was less than a month old. Since then, Alexa has had four more – along with 17 other heart procedures, near fatal brain bleeds, emergency brain surgery and more. 

Despite Alexa’s resilience and courage, routine medical appointments like blood draws and other diagnostic procedures often tested her resolve – until Alexa and her mother, Brittany, discovered The Comfort Zone at Golisano Children’s Hospital at UVM Health. The Comfort Zone is a pre-procedure space designed to help children with complex medical needs navigate medical care with less fear and more personalized support. 

Join us as we explore a leading-edge approach to helping pediatric patients and families cope with the stress and uncertainty that can impact their willingness to seek medical care later in life – and meet the dedicate team of nurses and Child Life Specialists who are taking care of pediatric patients and are now finding ways to expand The Comfort Zone to help young adults as well. 

Across America, heart disease causes nearly 1 million deaths each year. In Vermont and northern New York, tens of thousands are impacted annually. At UVM Medical Center, a small but mighty team of heart specialists has spent decades advancing cardiac care for patients and our understanding of the complex factors that impact heart health.

Join us to learn more about the paradigm-shifting work of the Cardiology team at our region’s only academic medical center. You’ll hear about a new biomarker test that gives physicians prescribing blood thinning medications more information than ever before, new treatments for the sickest heart patients and previously unknown misconceptions about heart health.

For as long as he can remember, Jon Carey of Erie, Pennsylvania has lived with dysthymia, also known as persistent depressive disorder. But it wasn’t until well into Jon’s adult years that his struggles with depression took a life-threatening turn. Then Jon met Dr. Ennio Ammendola, whose work as part of a team of suicide care experts proved life-changing for the 58-year-old biologist and father. 

Suicide touches the lives of many Vermonters and New Yorkers each year and is a leading cause of death across the United States. It is also a serious challenge for rural communities, where residents are at higher risk than those living in more metropolitan areas. 

Join us as we explore the care and support systems available across our region – and learn how the arrival of an expert team of mental health clinicians who specialize in evidence-based suicide care could expand access to life-changing care and revolutionize how our health care infrastructure identifies, treats and supports individuals struggling with suicide.