Becca Balint

U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., speaks during a discussion the challenges faced by first responders at Milton Rescue in Milton on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger MILTON — U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., wanted to see how heavy a stretcher is. She got some help lifting it out of the back of one of Milton’s retired ambulances as part of her Wednesday visit with the Chittenden County town’s emergency medicine providers. The ambulance was old and without the now-standard hydraulic lift that lowers stretchers out of the back of the truck. Milton had just retired the old ambulance after waiting three years — and paying nearly half a million dollars — for the new, state-of-the-art replacement, according to Town Manager Chris Taylor. A tour inside the old and new trucks closed out her hour-long visit with the rural emergency medicine squad. Nearly a dozen Milton EMTs and paramedics joined Balint, her staff and Milton town executives to discuss the biggest challenges emergency medicine providers in Vermont face. With her visit, Balint aimed to underscore and understand the unique challenges rural emergency medicine providers are facing and what the federal government can do to support these municipal efforts. Chief among the providers’ concerns were all the ways that people turn to 911 as a way to address social problems such as mental health crises, food insecurity and housing issues. “I think the overwhelming theme was that EMS providers in these rural areas are responding, certainly to medical emergencies, but they are basically the people who are filling the gaps for community services that aren’t adequate enough,” Balint said in a subsequent interview with VTDigger. “Are (patients) starting to view you all as their primary care provider?” Balint asked paramedics during the afternoon roundtable. The room pulsed with nods and paramedics’ eyes lit up. Balint said she suspects more Vermonters are forgoing preventative care and relying on emergency responders as Medicaid tightens its eligibility and federal support for marketplace insurance plans shrink. Milton’s first responders confirmed that they often are the primary point of contact people in rural parts of the state have with the healthcare system. Patients know that they will be able to speak to a provider within minutes rather than waiting weeks or more for a primary care appointment, said Sean McCann, chief of the Milton medical response team. The team also often responds to health emergencies that primary care could have prevented, they said. One Milton Rescue team member mentioned caring for patients who forgo prescriptions in order to pay their taxes and bills first. Others mentioned rural patients who simply can’t get to the pharmacy or the clinic for preventative care. “We do a lot more than clinical care,” McCann told Balint. But treating an ambulance and the emergency department as the first line of defense can introduce undue costs for the patient — many of whom