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05/23/2019
Exeter Health Resources, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital are pleased to announce the completion, and subsequent filing with the New Hampshire Charitable Trusts Unit, of a definitive affiliation agreement based on a letter of intent signed in May 2018. The agreement calls for the formation of a new, New Hampshire based, regional, not-for-profit entity that will serve as the parent of both Exeter Health Resources and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital and will be part of the Massachusetts General Hospital family.
The Boards of each of the organizations, in separate meetings, authorized the affiliation agreement which is now subject to State and Federal regulatory review, a process that may take several months. During this time, community forums will again be held in both Exeter and Dover locations enabling residents to ask questions, provide feedback and learn more about the proposed affiliation.
“This affiliation will be good for Seacoast residents,” said Kevin Callahan, president and CEO of Exeter Health Resources. “Our collective goal is to ensure that we can continue to remain leaders in providing sustainable and clinically excellent local health care for the Seacoast communities we have served for generations and for the many generations to come. Together, we can expand access to comprehensive care and leverage investments in innovative, sustainable services that we could not provide as stand-alone organizations.”
Gregory Walker, president and CEO of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, stated, “The proposed affiliation of our three organizations is consistent with the longstanding mission, vision and values that both Wentworth-Douglass and Exeter Health Resources have upheld in our collective communities for over 110 years. We are mindful of where we came from in informing our path forward in this ever changing healthcare environment. If approved, the proposed affiliation will ensure Seacoast communities continued access to high quality, high value healthcare services. We will continue to focus on caring for all in our communities and will remain not-for-profit, charitable organizations. Our investment in community benefits, including charity care and support for civic organizations and community services, will remain a top priority.”
Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of Massachusetts General Hospital, said, “This agreement represents an important step in the hospitals’ shared goal to enhance, grow and strengthen healthcare services in the Seacoast community. As most patients know, it takes a broad and diverse clinical team to provide the best care possible. This proposed affiliation will harness the excellence and expertise of three top hospitals who will collectively offer southern New Hampshire residents the outstanding care they have come to expect – close to home.”
ABOUT THE PARTIES:
Exeter Health Resources consists of three operating affiliates, Exeter Hospital, Core Physicians and Rockingham Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice that together employ more than 2,300 staff members. Exeter Hospital is a not-for-profit, charitable 100 bed, community-based acute care hospital, originally opened in 1897 with just a few beds, and now provides sophisticated services such as cardiac catheterization and extensive outpatient programs in surgery, and radiation and medical oncology. Exeter Hospital was awarded the highly coveted Magnet® designation in 2015 for its excellence in nursing practices and was re-designated in April 2018. The healthcare system has been recognized for ten years by the American Hospital Association’s Health Forum as a “Most Wired” organization. Core Physicians is a community-based, multi-specialty group practice affiliated with Exeter Health Resources. Over 140 physicians and other clinicians in more than 25 locations within the service area offer services in primary care, pediatrics, orthopedics, gastroenterology and many other medical and surgical specialties. Rockingham Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice is a community based non-profit home health and hospice agency that provides services throughout Rockingham County and into Strafford County.
Wentworth-Douglass Hospital is a not-for-profit charitable health care organization located in Dover, New Hampshire with a 110-year history of compassionate care and innovation. Serving the Seacoast communities since 1906, it is a family of 3,000 employees including 500+ registered nurses and a medical staff of over 480 physicians and advanced practitioners dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of residents and visitors to the Seacoast area of New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Wentworth-Douglass Hospital was awarded Magnet® designation in 2016, joined the Massachusetts General Hospital family in 2017 and includes a 178-bed hospital, several urgent care and walk-in facilities, multiple testing centers, Wentworth Health Partners (primary and specialty provider practices), The Works Family Health and Fitness Center and the Wentworth-Douglass Foundation.
Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the third oldest hospital in the nation and the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The 1,035-bed academic medical center each year admits more than 50,000 patients, records more than 1.7 million outpatient visits at its main campus and health centers, sees nearly 110,000 patients in its Emergency Department and delivers nearly 3,900 babies. The largest nongovernment employer in Boston, the MGH has more than 26,000 employees, including more than 5,000 nurses and nearly 3,000 physicians. For more than two centuries, the MGH has been a leader in bridging innovative science with advanced clinical care. MGH is home to the nation’s largest hospital-based research program, the MGH Research Institute, with an annual budget of more than $925 million. For more information about the MGH visit www.massgeneral.org.