The largest home health care association in the region will become an affiliate of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system starting July 1.
The Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Vermont and New Hampshire announced Monday that its board of trustees voted to join Dartmouth-Hitchcock on May 24. The association serves 140 towns in Vermont and New Hampshire.
The VNH offers in-home hospice care, long-term home care, rehabilitation care, and pediatric care to patients in Orange, Windsor, and Windham Counties, as well as towns in New Hampshire that sit just across the Vermont border.
The VNH said in a press release that the two organizations have worked toward the affiliation since late 2014. The VNH said it plans to continue its existing relationships with towns and hospitals, and it will work with Dartmouth-Hitchcock on a new Center for Palliative and Hospice Care.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s health system currently has five affiliated hospitals, including its anchor hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire and Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Windsor, Vermont. The VNH is the first home health agency to affiliate with the health system.
“We’ve always worked well with Dartmouth-Hitchcock, and as a result, our care continuums will be even better, helping us to improve transitions from hospital to home and avoid unnecessary re-hospitalizations that reduce quality of life and increase costs,” Jeanne McLaughlin, the chief executive officer of the VNH, said in a news release.
Dr. James Weinstein, chief executive officer of Dartmouth-Hitchcock, said: “We want to keep people healthy and out of the hospital. VNH is a leader in home-based care, and we are excited to be able to work more closely with them for the benefit of the people and communities we serve, for generations to come.”
