Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) announced today that it has officially joined the Dartmouth Health system. The integration and affiliation is an important step in sustaining efficient, high-quality care for rural communities.
"This is a monumental achievement for our organization," said Tom Dee, CEO and President of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. "The Board of Trustees had the vision and foresight to help the long-term sustainability of SVMC through its integration and affiliation with Dartmouth Health. The patients of our regional communities will benefit significantly from the intellectual capital and system strength of Dartmouth Health. Our two organizations have enjoyed a longstanding relationship for over a decade, providing exceptional care to our communities. It's only going to get better."
The agreement, made official on July 1, 2023, making SVMC the sixth hospital member of Dartmouth Health, strengthens the relationship between the two health systems. Historically, joint programs included the formation of Dartmouth Hitchcock Putnam Physicians, expanded telemedicine, enhanced oncology services, and patient safety initiatives.
The formalized integration and affiliation provide for 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 hospital, SVMC's patients will experience improved access and expanded specialty care, including cancer treatments, orthopedics, and heart and vascular care.
"Rural health systems like ours are experiencing greater economic challenges than ever before, between a significant healthcare labor shortage, the high cost of contract labor, delayed hospital discharges due to staffing shortages at post-acute care facilities, rising demand for services and a growing ledger of uncompensated care. We know we can't solve these problems alone, but working together we are stronger," said Joanne M. Conroy, MD, CEO and President of Dartmouth Health. "Our partnership with Southwestern Vermont Medical Center will serve to fortify our critical healthcare institutions against the fluctuating challenges of the market, and we also believe it will strengthen and expand the services we already provide, through shared resources, and more collaboration between providers."
In addition to SVMC in Bennington, Southwestern Vermont Health Care has clinical locations in Wilmington, Manchester, Pownal, and West Dover, VT, as well as Williamstown, MA, and Hoosick Falls, NY.
SVMC joins other Dartmouth Health members, including New Hampshire-based Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, New London Hospital in New London, Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Windsor, VT, Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire, and various Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont.
About SVHC
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, healthcare system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.
Southwestern Vermont Health Care is among the most lauded small rural health systems in the nation. It is the recipient of the American Hospital Association’s 2020 Rural Hospital Leadership Award. In addition, SVMC is a five-time recipient of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence.
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.
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.