Announcing a partnership between Southern NH Health (SNHH) and Elliot Health System are, From left: Dr. Rob Dorf, chief medical officer of SNHH, Jim Hood, board chairman of Elliot Health System, Doug Dean, president and CEO of Elliot Health System, Mike Rose, president and CEO of SNHH, Tim Sullivan, board chairman of SNHH, and Dr. Greg Baxter, chief medical officer of Elliot Health System.
Two of the largest health systems in Southern NH—Elliot Health System in Manchester and Southern NH Health (SNHH) in Nashua—announced Monday the signing of a binding agreement to create “SOLUTIONHEALTH.”
Elliot Health System’s president and CEO Doug Dean opened the press conference at the Millyard Museum in Manchester by saying that Elliot Health System and SNHH are excited to visualize how both systems can address the Granite State’s health issues. “Today, the mills have been reborn as exciting hubs for innovation and technology, and are rapidly evolving 21st century economy. The same dynamics are affecting health care, which today is complex. It’s enormously challenging, and in the need for transformation and solutions," says Dean. “In June, we announced the letter of intent together. Since that time, we’ve embarked on a journey of transformation and discovery to allow us to envision how Southern New Hampshire Health and Elliot Health System could become a New Hampshire solution. That journey has led us to this stage today, and we couldn’t be happier.”
While the combined system will be known as SOLUTIONHEALTH, each hospital will retain its own identity.
“Both hospitals enjoy a deep and rich tradition of offering care. One of our goals is not to make both of our hospitals uniform with one another, but to respect the individual profile of services, the medical communities, and the medical staff they support. All of those organizations will remain intact and remain very much responsive to the needs of the Nashua community and the Manchester community," says Dean. “What we do hope to create is an opportunity for us to interact at the clinical level with our physicians and nurses, and talk out opportunities clinically where we can have value added to one another. The tone that we’ve set for one another is to unify our efforts, but not to make them uniform.And in that respect, both organizations will remain their singular identity and their name identity, and the way that a community relates to them.”
SOLUTIONHEALTH created seven guiding principles for the collaboration, including providing better access for patients, affordability and responding to the changing needs of the Nashua and Manchester communities.
“It’s an opportunity to collaborate and share best practices to improve quality outcomes,“ says SNHH President and CEO Mike Rose.
The agreement is required to undergo a 120-day review period by the NH Department of Justice, which will include hearings in Manchester and Nashua to solicit the public's input.
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