The benefit to our patients, families and rural communities will be substantial, including investments in future services and infrastructure and enhanced research opportunities to continue providing the best in innovative, cutting-edge, world-class care.
Joanne M. Conroy, MDDartmouth Health welcomes Valley Regional Hospital (Valley Regional) as its newest member. Dartmouth Health and Valley Regional have worked collaboratively for many years across multiple services, including cardiology, oncology, pathology and radiology. This official affiliation builds upon the existing relationship and enables the formal integration of its clinical, administrative and financial resources to sustain efficient, high-quality care for the rural communities served by Valley Regional and Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center, an existing Dartmouth Health member.
As the most rural academic medical system in the United States, Dartmouth Health offers the resources of the latest research and technology and the highest standards of care typically found in major metropolitan areas to the largely rural population of the surrounding region, without the need to travel. Critical access and community hospitals that join Dartmouth Health gain all the benefits of academic medical affiliation. Residents of the greater Claremont area who receive their care through Valley Regional will reap these benefits of this affiliation, with the familiarity of a known and trusted community institution.
“Both Valley Regional and Dartmouth Health share a deep commitment to expanding access to care throughout our region’s rural communities, and believe that combining our resources will allow us to better meet the needs of patients in Sullivan County and the Upper Valley region, now and in the future,” said Jocelyn Caple, MD, interim CEO of Valley Regional.
The agreement, made official on July 31, 2024, formally integrates Valley Regional with Dartmouth Health, providing the sharing of additional resources, such as improved access to state-of-the-art technology, the latest in clinical research and more than 2,000 of the region’s most distinguished physicians and providers. As a Dartmouth Health member hospital, Valley Regional’s patients will experience improved access and expanded specialty care, including mental health, substance use treatment and women’s health.
“There is so much optimism and excitement as we look to our future together,” said Joanne M. Conroy, MD, CEO and president of Dartmouth Health. “The benefit to our patients, families and rural communities will be substantial, including investments in future services and infrastructure and enhanced research opportunities to continue providing the best in innovative, cutting-edge, world-class care. Dartmouth Health is woven into the fabric of the communities we serve, and now Claremont and its surrounding communities will formally be a part of that fabric. We couldn’t be more excited about Valley Regional Hospital becoming a member of Dartmouth Health.”
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.