As the state’s only nonprofit, academic health system, Dartmouth Health is uniquely qualified to join Hampstead’s team, treating young Granite Staters requiring a high level of care.
Joanne M. Conroy, MDDartmouth Health and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) have officially closed on a public-private partnership, making Dartmouth Health solely responsible for the clinical leadership, patient care and operation of Hampstead Hospital and Residential Treatment Facility (Hampstead). Hampstead is the state’s only acute psychiatric hospital and residential treatment facility for youth and young adults.
“As the state’s only nonprofit, academic health system, Dartmouth Health is uniquely qualified to join Hampstead’s team, treating young Granite Staters requiring a high level of care,” said Joanne M. Conroy, MD, CEO and president of Dartmouth Health. “We are privileged to take on this paramount responsibility, caring for the wellbeing and safety of our young patients, their families, and our Hampstead neighbors. As a member of Dartmouth Health, Hampstead will benefit from the resources and expertise of our entire health system, including Dartmouth Health Children’s, and strengthen our critical role in New Hampshire to foster and support mental health for the children and adolescents in our community.”
“This public-private model led by Dartmouth Health creates certainty for Hampstead’s dedicated staff and the patients and families they serve,” said DHHS Commissioner Lori Weaver. “Dartmouth Health ensures that Hampstead will continue to deliver high-quality services and care to children and youth in New Hampshire. I want to recognize and commend the people who work at Hampstead for continuing to provide high-quality care to some of the state’s most vulnerable youth and families throughout this transition.”
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. A key element of Dartmouth Health’s role at Hampstead is training the next generation of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurse practitioners and nurses, which will be accomplished with residency programs and by creating the kind of vibrant learning community that attracts and retains the most talented clinicians and staff.
“Dartmouth Health made offers to eligible hospital employees, and we are pleased to see that 95% of them have accepted,” said Dartmouth Health psychiatry chair William C. Torrey, MD. “The hospital’s excellent team members have done great work to ensure patients receive the best care possible, and retaining them is key to continuing our mission and providing consistency for our patients. We are delighted to have them join the Dartmouth Health team.”
The former New Hampshire governor, Chris Sununu, and the New Hampshire Executive Council approved the partnership in December 2024. Under the seven-year agreement, DHHS will lease the facility on the Hampstead campus to Dartmouth Health, which will assume clinical, operational and financial responsibility for Hampstead.
Dartmouth Health will 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 Hampstead. DHHS and Dartmouth Health have agreed to establish a joint operating committee that will ensure the services offered at Hampstead align with the psychiatric needs of young people in New Hampshire. These expectations ensure the hospital's current services continue, and that the interests of New Hampshire patients and their families—and the broader public—are fully protected.
Dartmouth Health has been providing psychiatric and medical leadership and care at Hampstead since July 2024. Since then, significant improvements have already been made, including reducing wait times for admission. Dartmouth Health also has a partnership to provide clinical care at New Hampshire Hospital, the state’s only freestanding behavioral health hospital for adults, as well as therapeutic services at the state’s Youth Development Center, which serves youth involved in the juvenile justice system and will be soon relocated to the Hampstead campus.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.
About Dartmouth Health Children's
Dartmouth Health Children's is the only comprehensive pediatric healthcare system in the region. Fully integrated in Dartmouth Health and anchored for more than 30 years by Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD)—in Lebanon, NH—Dartmouth Health Children's promotes health, advances knowledge, and delivers the best patient and family-centered care for infants, children, and adolescents across New Hampshire and Vermont. Dartmouth Health Children's conducts groundbreaking research and educates the next generations of health professionals as the primary pediatric partner of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Highly skilled and collaborative child health professionals provide care in multiple settings across the region. Outpatient specialty visits and same-day surgery services are available at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD) and Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics Manchester. Primary care appointments in general pediatrics are available at Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics in Bedford, Concord, Lebanon, Manchester and Nashua, NH and Bennington, VT; as well as at Dartmouth Health members: Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, Cheshire Medical Center, New London Hospital and Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center.