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Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and GraniteOne Health Sign Formal Agreement for Combined New Hampshire-based health care system.

Agreement paves way to seek regulatory approval.

Lebanon & Manchester, NH (October 2, 2019) – Joanne M. Conroy, MD, CEO and President of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and Dartmouth-Hitchcock, and Joseph Pepe, MD, CEO and President of GraniteOne Health, announced today that nine months after signing a Letter of Intent (LOI), the Boards of Trustees of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH) and GraniteOne Health (GOH) and their member organizations have signed a Combination Agreement to combine the two health care systems. ; the health care systems are now preparing their submissions to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Charitable Trusts Unit and Consumer Protection Bureau, as well as to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for review and approval.

The combined non-profit health care system, which will be called Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health GraniteOne, will build on years of existing successful community engagement and clinical collaborations, and will meet the growing demand for seamlessly integrated primary, specialty, ambulatory, and inpatient care throughout the region. The result will be a high-quality, lower-cost, New Hampshire-based alternative to out-of-state providers.

“We are extremely proud of the diligence and exhaustive work that the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and GraniteOne Health teams have put into developing this comprehensive agreement,” said Vincent Conti, MHA, Chair of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health Board of Trustees. “Our board unanimously approved this agreement because we truly believe it is a positive and transformative step for the people of New Hampshire and our respective organizations. Every one of us is anxious to begin the new work to fully realize the potential of our new relationship.”

“Throughout this process, we have learned so much about what makes each of our organizations important to our communities,” said Rick Botnick, Chair of the GraniteOne Health Board of Trustees. “The system we are forming honors those long-standing commitments and builds on our clinical excellence, to create opportunities for all of New Hampshire to enjoy better health.”

The combined and integrated system will transform health care delivery in New Hampshire while maintaining member’s local identities, traditions and community commitments, including the distinct Catholic model of health care provided by Catholic Medical Center. All organizations within the combined system will also keep their current names and local leadership.

“Our goal has been, and continues to be, to provide access to the highest-quality care for the people of New Hampshire, right here at home,” said Joanne M. Conroy, MD, CEO and President of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health. “Combining our systems will enable us to more effectively and efficiently use the existing capacity of our two systems, expand capacity where and when necessary, and enhance existing services across all the hospitals in our systems and in our communities, in order to meet growing patient demand, particularly in southern New Hampshire.”

“I’ve worked in health care in New Hampshire for 30 years and have seen firsthand, in business and in our communities, that we can achieve great things when we work together,” said Joseph Pepe, MD, CEO of GraniteOne Health. “Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health GraniteOne is an example of that—a real New Hampshire-based solution to provide the best care, in the right place, at the right time.”

More information and updates about this combination can be found at www.ForAHealthierNH.org.

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Pictured above, from left to right:  Monadnock Community Hospital CEO Cynthia McGuire, FACHE; GraniteOne Health Board of Trustees Chair Rick Botnick; GraniteOne Health CEO and Catholic Medical Center President & CEO Joseph Pepe, MD; Huggins Hospital CEO Jeremy Roberge, CPA.

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About Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health:DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK HEALTH (D-HH), New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves a population of 1.9 million across northern New England. D-HH provides access to more than 1,800 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. DHMC was named in 2019 as the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and recognized for high performance in 13 clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth-Hitchcock also includes the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center, one of only 51 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation; the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the state’s only children’s hospital; affiliated member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, and New London, NH, and Windsor, VT, and Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and 24 Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinics that provide ambulatory services across New Hampshire and Vermont. The D-HH system trains nearly 400 residents and fellows annually, and performs world-class research, in partnership with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT.

About GraniteOne Health: GraniteOne Health (GOH) is a network of New Hampshire hospitals that combines their experience, resources, and expertise to provide exceptional care to individuals and families across the Granite State. Member hospitals which include Catholic Medical Center (CMC) in Manchester and its nationally renowned New England Heart & Vascular Institute, Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro, and Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough.  A non-profit, community-based health care system, GraniteOne Health offers access points throughout New Hampshire to advanced clinical services such as open-heart surgery, angioplasty, minimally invasive heart valve and vascular surgery, cancer care, comprehensive weight loss management, orthopedics, innovative maternal health services and over 30 other medical and surgical subspecialties. GraniteOne Health gives patients access to high-quality, coordinated care across the continuum of health.

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Joint Notice to the Director of Charitable Trusts

GraniteOne Health is a limited affiliation of MCH, Huggins and CMC that was created in 2016 and that the Boards of all three parties have voted to dissolve.

A Joint Notice is being prepared for submission to the New Hampshire Attorney General, Director of Charitable Trusts, pursuant to New Hampshire RSA (“NHRSA”) 7:19-b(III) by Huggins Hospital, a New Hampshire voluntary corporation (“Huggins”), and Monadnock Community Hospital, a New Hampshire voluntary corporation (“MCH”), in connection with their proposed withdrawal from and dissolution of GraniteOne Health.

Click here to view/download a DRAFT of the Joint Notice.

June 12, 2023 Public Information Session

In preparation for filing a Joint Notice to the Director of Charitable Trusts, the public was invited to ask questions about the proposed dissolution of the GraniteOne Health system during a June 12, 2023 virtual community information session. The session included a brief introduction from the Chief Executive Officers of Huggins Hospital and Monadnock Community Hospital, followed by opportunities for questions and comments from the public.

You may submit written comments by mail to either of the following individuals:

Monika O’Clair
VP of Strategy & Community Relations
Huggins Hospital
240 South Main Street
Wolfeboro, NH 03894

Laura Gingras
VP of Philanthropy & Community Relations
Monadnock Community Hospital
452 Old Street Road
Peterborough, NH 03458

You may also send an email to: AskHuggins@hugginshospital.org

Important notice about GraniteOne Health

12/7/22 – The boards of GraniteOne Health (GOH) members – Catholic Medical Center (CMC), Huggins Hospital (Huggins), and Monadnock Community Hospital (MCH) – have voted to withdraw from GOH and dissolve the system. The long-standing clinical partnerships these hospitals share will continue, providing patients throughout the state access to high-quality specialty care, technologies, and resources close to home.

“We strongly value the relationships among our organizations,” said CMC CEO Alex Walker. “We have strengthened our clinical partnerships and grown to meet our patients’ needs. But with growth comes change and each hospital’s current needs have changed since GOH was created. CMC remains dedicated to supporting rural health care and will remain a partner of Monadnock Community Hospital and Huggins Hospital.”

Over the years, and especially since 2020, each hospital has been faced with challenges both universal to the healthcare industry and unique to their organizations. These have included staffing shortages, the need to grow different specialties, and the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“Throughout our time with GOH, Huggins Hospital has continued to grow and require more specialty services to meet the needs of our community,” said Huggins President & CEO Jeremy Roberge, CPA. “Within GOH, each partner has had to focus internally and manage its growth independently. We believe it is best to dissolve GOH so we can increase that focus on our local needs and decide what is best for each of our organizations.”

“A lot has changed in the past 5 years and our Board of Trustees has begun a strategic planning process to look at our needs today and chart the path forward,” said Monadnock President & CEO Cynthia McGuire. “Our focus is on how we can deliver accessible, high-quality, valued-based care as we enter our second century of caring for our community. With the current challenges we are all facing in healthcare across the nation, we have confidence there will be benefit in evaluating new strategies for our future outside of GOH.”

GOH will file the necessary paperwork with the Charitable Trust Unit of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office early in 2023, after which there will be more information available and opportunity for public comment.

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Media Contacts:

Monica O’Clair, Huggins Hospital VP of Strategy & Community Relations
moclair@hugginshospital.org

Lauren Collins-Cline, CMC Director of Communications & PR
lauren.collins-cline@lauren

Laura Gingras, Monadnock Community Hospital VP of Philanthropy & Community Relations
Laura.Gingras@mchmail.org

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and GraniteOne Health Letter of Intent to combine the two organizations.

Combined system would provide New Hampshire residents with greater access to all levels of medical care closer to home.

Lebanon & Manchester, NH (January 24, 2019) – Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH) and GraniteOne Health (GOH) today announced that they have signed a letter of intent (LOI) to combine their two organizations to better serve the health care needs of New Hampshire residents and communities. The combined non-profit health care system, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health GraniteOne, will build on years of successful community engagement and clinical collaboration in order to meet the growing demand for seamlessly integrated primary, specialty, ambulatory and inpatient care, offering patients a high-quality, lower-cost, New Hampshire-based alternative choice to out-of-state providers.

The non-binding LOI is the first step in a well-defined and lengthy process that involves further due diligence, opportunities for public input, negotiation of final terms, approval by each organization’s Board of Trustees and the Bishop of Manchester, and review by federal and state regulators. As a combined system, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health GraniteOne will seek to:

  • Expand access to high-quality care for individuals and families throughout New Hampshire
  • Respond to growing demand for inpatient, specialty and sub-specialty services, particularly in southern New Hampshire
  • Extend and reinforce health care services in rural communities
  • Coordinate and strengthen efforts to address behavioral health and substance use disorder
  • Improve the health of populations suffering from chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, and obesity, leading to better long term health and lowering long term healthcare costs
  • Address social determinants of health such as nutrition and food security, access to preventative care, and educational opportunity

“As the health care landscape continues to evolve, it is important for health care systems to evaluate how we can best serve our patients and communities, and prepare for the future so we can continue to provide the high level of care that people expect,” said Joanne M. Conroy, MD, CEO and President of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health. “By combining these two top health care organizations, we would create a patient-focused, unique and unparalleled option for New Hampshire that is responsive to community needs and patients’ desire for cost-effective, high-quality care.”

“For 15 years, our two organizations have worked closely together to improve the lives and health of our patients and their families,” said Joseph Pepe, MD, CEO of GraniteOne Health. “We have complementary visions for what health care in New Hampshire could be. Combining systems would allow us to advance that vision, expanding access to primary and specialty care for all New Hampshire residents, including vulnerable patients and communities.”

The combined system will transform health care delivery in New Hampshire. Catholic Medical Center, one of the members of GraniteOne Health, will continue to adhere to its Catholic model of care while D-HH will continue to serve its patients as it does today in all its existing health care facilities. All organizations within the combined system would also keep their current names, identities, and local leadership.

“I am impressed with the deliberate discussions that have taken place thus far and I believe that this combined system would strengthen Catholic Medical Center’s ability to care for the suffering and sick in our community, while at the same time maintaining the integrity of its Catholic identity,” said the Most Reverend Peter Libasci, Bishop of Manchester. Bishop Libasci and the National Catholic Bioethics Center are actively engaged in this process. According to Dr. Pepe, their participation ensures that “CMC’s Catholic identity will be preserved and our mission will be as strong as ever under the proposed combination.”

“We respect and admire CMC’s historical and unique role in the Greater Manchester community and its Catholic health care mission,” said Dr. Conroy. “Health care is a deeply personal experience and it is important to assure all our patients that they will continue to receive the health care services they want and need, at the place and time they want them. We look forward to a thorough and thoughtful process informed by public input so we can create the kind of health care system that the people of New Hampshire deserve.”

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health is a non-profit, regional academic health system that provides primary and specialty care to patients in New Hampshire and Vermont. Anchored by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire’s only academic medical center providing ambulatory and inpatient hospital services to the region’s most acutely ill patients, D-HH is home to the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, one of 49 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country, and the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (CHaD), New Hampshire’s only children’s hospital. GraniteOne Health is a non-profit, community-based health care system that offers coordinated care and access to specialists for patients across New Hampshire. It includes Catholic Medical Center (CMC) in Manchester, with its nationally renowned New England Heart & Vascular Institute, which has offered leading-edge heart and vascular care at locations state-wide for more than 30 years, as well as Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro and Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough.

More information and updates about this combination can be found at www.ForAHealthierNH.org

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About Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH), New Hampshire’s only academic health system, serves patients from across New England. D-HH provides access to more than 1,500 primary and specialty care physicians in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship academic medical center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. DHMC was named in 2018 as the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by US News & World Report, nationally ranked in gynecology, and recognized for high performance in 14 clinical specialties. D-HH system members include New London Hospital, Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital in Lebanon, Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire, and Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Windsor, Vermont; and 24 Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinics that provide ambulatory services across New Hampshire and Vermont. The D-HH system trains nearly 400 residents and fellows annually, and performs state-of-the-art research in partnership with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT.

About GraniteOne Health: GraniteOne Health (GOH) is a network of New Hampshire hospitals that combines their experience, resources, and expertise to provide exceptional care to individuals and families across the Granite State. Member hospitals include Catholic Medical Center (CMC) in Manchester and its nationally renowned New England Heart & Vascular Institute, Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro, and Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough. A non-profit, community-based health care system, GraniteOne Health offers access points throughout New Hampshire to advanced clinical services such as open-heart surgery, angioplasty, minimally invasive heart valve and vascular surgery, cancer care, comprehensive weight loss management, orthopedics, innovative maternal health services and over 30 other medical and surgical subspecialties. GraniteOne Health gives patients access to high-quality, coordinated care across the continuum of health.

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