For a practice that is closing, being sold, relocating or whose physician is retiring. Prepared 21 September 2026.
How long records must be kept
Adult patients
Vermont sets NO retention period. The Board of Medical Practice Rule was downloaded and searched in full - 74 pages - and contains none.
Patients who were minors
None set by Vermont law.
Clock starts
Not applicable - no state clock exists.
Also
The only retention duty in the Board's rules is 4 years for CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION documentation, which is not a patient record.
Also
The operative floors are HIPAA's 6 years and the malpractice limitation period.
Also
Failing to make records promptly available to the patient, their representative or succeeding health care professionals on proper written request is unprofessional conduct - and that outlasts the practice.
Before you close — what this state requires
26 V.S.A. 1354: failing to make records promptly available to SUCCEEDING HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS on proper written request is unprofessional conduct - which survives the practice closing and is the hook that makes an accessible custodian arrangement matter in Vermont.
Where a records custodian fits
Vermont law addresses a records custodian directly in the items above. Morgan Records Management performs this role; the duties below are the ones that transfer to, or must be evidenced by, whoever holds the records.
26 V.S.A. 1354: failing to make records promptly available to SUCCEEDING HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS on proper written request is unprofessional conduct - which survives the practice closing and is the hook that makes an accessible custodian arrangement matter in Vermont.
What Vermont does not require
Stated so nobody infers a duty that is not there.
No affirmative closure-notice or custodian duty located in Vermont law or the Board rules.
Where this comes from
Vermont Board of Medical Practice Rule https://www.healthvermont.gov/sites/default/files/document/reg-board-medical-practice.pdf
26 V.S.A. s.1354 (unprofessional conduct - records availability) https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/26/023/01354
Read this before you act on it. Every statement above was taken from the state's own published rule or statute and is quoted or closely paraphrased from it. It is a working checklist, not legal advice, and it is a snapshot: retention periods change, and several states adjust their copying fees every year. Confirm the current text with the source listed above, or with your attorney, before you rely on a date or a dollar figure.
Figures stated as of: Verified September 2026
Prepared by Morgan Records Management for Vermont. Checklist built 21 September 2026.