On September 16, the proposed affiliation between New London Hospital (NLH) and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH) was cleared to move forward by the New Hampshire Office of the Attorney General, having previously received a similar clearance from the New Hampshire Charitable Trusts Unit of the same office.
Leading up to these decisions, a lengthy due diligence and regulatory review process was conducted by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office that included a 120-day public comment period and consideration of State anti-trust laws. NLH held two public forums on the proposal in May of 2013 – one in New London and one in Newport.
This new affiliation is intended to strengthen the clinical services offered by NLH, continue to improve population health in the region, and reduce overall healthcare spending. A number of clinical and administrative relationships already exist between the two institutions. Notably, in January NLH joined D-HH in its Pioneer Accountable Care Organization program, aimed at providing high-value primary care to Medicare beneficiaries in New Hampshire.
“New London Hospital and Dartmouth-Hitchcock have worked closely together for many years,” stated NLH President and CEO Bruce P. King. “The affiliation will allow us to not only enhance and expand our offerings but also to provide our community the best possible personalized patient care environment.”
D-HH anticipates benefits from the affiliation as well. “As we seek to create a sustainable health system for our region, it is imperative that individual health systems work together to make the best use of resources and share best practices for the benefit of the people and communities we serve,” said Dr. James N. Weinstein, CEO and President of Dartmouth-Hitchcock. “New London Hospital has long been a trusted partner that shares our values and vision. This affiliation will make our relationship even stronger.”
Already approved by Trustees of the two institutions, the new affiliation became effective on October 1.
About New London Hospital
New London Hospital is a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital with 500 employees, serving 32,000 residents in 15 towns in the Kearsarge/Lake Sunapee region in central New Hampshire. The hospital provides primary care and specialized clinical services to the community in a patient- and family-centered environment. The hospital also includes the 58-bed Clough Center extended nursing care facility.
About Dartmouth-Hitchcock
Dartmouth-Hitchcock is a national leader in patient-centered health care and building a sustainable health system. Founded in 1893, the system includes New Hampshire’s only Level 1 trauma center and its only air ambulance service, as well as the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, one of only 41 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the state’s only Children’s Hospital Association-approved, comprehensive, full-service children’s hospital. As an academic medical center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock provides access to nearly 1,000 primary care doctors and specialists in almost every area of medicine, as well as world-class research at the Audrey and Theodor Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.