Dartmouth Health and NH DHHS form public-private partnership to operate Hampstead Hospital

The New Hampshire Executive Council earlier today approved an expanded public-private partnership between the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Dartmouth Health for the operation of Hampstead Hospital and Residential Treatment Facility (HHRTF). This new model ensures youth and children will continue to receive the most intensive psychiatric and residential treatment services while HHRTF continues serving its critical role in the State’s Children’s Behavioral Health System of Care.

 “Young people in our state deserve outstanding clinical care to support their health and wellbeing,” said Dartmouth Health Chair of Psychiatry William C. Torrey, MD. “At Dartmouth Health, we are deeply committed to developing, implementing, and offering evidence-based mental health best practices and in training the next generation of mental health professionals. We are grateful for the vote to approve this expansion of our partnership with the State, which creates a wonderful opportunity to ensure brighter futures for many children and families across New Hampshire. Between now and February, we will continue our due diligence to ensure a seamless transition and build on the measurable progress already achieved at Hampstead Hospital. Partnering with talented State leaders, we are making significant strides in improving safety, expediting admissions, and serving more patients, but our work has only just begun.”

“To be a top-notch place for employees and patients alike, HHRTF needs to be stable and resilient,” said DHHS Commissioner Lori Weaver. “In order to ensure care for the children and youth in our state who rely on the psychiatric and residential treatment services provided, HHRTF must be able to stay strong and relevant as changes inevitably occur in the healthcare industry, mental health treatment landscape, workforce training environment, and the wider economy. This model sets us on a path toward that success, stability, and growth.”

 Under the seven-year agreement, DHHS will lease the HHRTF facility on the Hampstead campus to Dartmouth Health. Dartmouth Health will assume clinical, operational, and financial responsibility for HHRTF.  Together, DHHS and Dartmouth Health will work toward building a Children’s Center of Excellence, delivering and expanding access to behavioral health services, providing trauma-informed care, and implementing evidence-based practices to ensure the most positive outcomes for children and youth.

 Dartmouth Health will be required to provide high-quality behavioral health services in line with specific expectations from the State. Under the lease, Dartmouth Health must comply with all applicable accreditation standards, as well as federal and state legal and regulatory standards, in the provision of services at HHRTF. DHHS and Dartmouth Health have agreed to establish a Joint Operating Committee (JOC) that will ensure the services offered at HHRTF align with the psychiatric needs of young people in the State of New Hampshire. These expectations ensure the hospital's current services continue, and that the interests of NH patients and their families—and the broader public—are fully protected.

 HHRTF has a skilled and dedicated workforce that Dartmouth Health needs and wants to retain. Dartmouth Health will offer positions to the current employees who are in temporary State positions, which includes those who were transitioned to State employment in the summer of 2024 as well as those who joined the organization in subsequent months. When the transition takes effect (expected in February 2025), no current employee will be without a job, and all will have the opportunity grow their skills and develop their careers and expertise.

 Dartmouth Health is New Hampshire’s largest employer and largest provider of mental and behavioral health services. For decades, it has provided psychiatric services at both New Hampshire Hospital and the Sununu Youth Services Center. In May, Dartmouth Health was selected to provide psychiatric services at HHRTF, the State’s only source of pediatric psychiatric residential treatment facility level of care.