Mass General Brigham Incorporated

Programs: Wentworth-douglass hospital (wdh or the hospital) is an acute care hospital located in dover, new hampshire. Wdh is a not-for-profit organization, as described in section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code. Wentworth-douglass hospital is the largest acute care hospital in the seacoast region of new hampshire and southern maine, specializing in trauma and emergency services, surgery, cancer care, birthing, orthopedic services, cardiovascular services, sleep disorders, rehabilitation, pain management, wound healing, wellness, and prevention programs plus extensive diagnostic services. A healthcare leader in the seacoast since 1906, wentworth-douglass hospital is accredited by the joint commission on accreditation of healthcare organizations. (continued on schedule o)at wentworth-douglass hospital, we are committed to serving our community and addressing the needs of all our patients. Our community benefit programs are available to local residents with income at or below 250% of federal poverty level guidelines, one of the most generous programs in the state of nh. Wdh files an annual community benefits report with the state of nh which outlines the community and charitable benefits provided. Numerous programs were developed to assist people in the area we serve, including financial aid, behavioral treatment health services, family resource counselor program, medication assistance program, physician referral services, care-van transportation services, and wentworth-douglass community dental center. The hospital provided $17,574,000 (as measured by gross charges) of community assistance programs in 2014, impacting 9,331 patients. In total, the hospital and wdpc together provided $18,638,000 (as measured by gross charges) of community assistance programs in 2014, impacting 16,871 patients. The hospital's core programs include our cancer center, emergency department, and surgical services. In addition, wdh offers other key services in the areas of women's and children's services and cardiology services. 1. The seacoast cancer center at wentworth-douglass hospital offers the most comprehensive cancer treatment services covering the seacoast region of new hampshire and southern maine. Founded over 30 years ago as a single room adjacent to the emergency department, the cancer center's services now include extensive, state of the art medical and radiation oncology diagnostic services with multiple treatment options. A multidisciplinary chest clinic, located in the seacoast cancer center, saw its first patients in october 2008. The medical team focuses on timely access to services for patients with lung nodules and lung cancer. 2. The emergency department at wentworth-douglass hospital is the busiest in the seacoast and third busiest in the state of new hampshire. Close linkages to local emergency services personnel and fire & rescue departments continue to extend the skill and capabilities of the department. Through internal and external education efforts, the emergency department focused on improving patient care for specific types of heart attack (stemi) and stroke. The department's efforts in the fall of 2008, through a clinical collaboration with massachusetts general hospital, created the stroke initiative to form a center of excellence for stroke care. In october 2009 the american heart/stroke association awarded wdh the bronze award for achieving its high standard, quality guidelines for six consecutive months. In 2011, the hospital received a gold plus award from the joint commission for 24 consecutive months of achievement at the stroke center. To accommodate increasing patients the department also added additional space for six treatment rooms and opened a walk-in urgent care center in lee, nh to support the growing population areas in the towns surrounding lee. The hospital's generous charity care program offers emergency, walk-in and other hospital services at no charge for qualifying patients at 250% of the federal poverty level. 3. Surgical services at wdh include a wide array of services and technological advances frequently associated with larger medical centers. A recent renovation to enlarge operating rooms created digital ors and space for new equipment such as the da vinci robotic surgical system. Now in its seventh year, the robotic program began with ob/gyn surgeons, and now includes thoracic, general surgery and urology. Another clinical collaboration with mgh at wdh brings a gyn/oncology surgeon to wdh to perform "medical center" surgery in the community setting, eliminating the time and the frustration of travel to and parking at metropolitan cities. A range of minimally invasive procedures including robotic surgery, single incision laparoscopic surgery (sils) used by general surgeons and video assisted thoracic surgery (vats) procedures used by the thoracic surgeon offer patients the benefits of complex surgery with less blood loss, less infection and faster recovery. The joint replacement program introduced in 2006 offers a unique approach to joint replacement surgery with pre-op group education and post-op group rehab. Surgeons, anesthesiologists, nursing, rehab and nutrition staff worked collaboratively to create this new approach to joint replacement care. In 2009, the hospital created the northern new england spine center, a partnership of specialists to coordinate and expedite the care of patients with neck and back pain. The spine center members include a spine surgeon, physiatry specialists, pain specialists, wdh rehab, behavioral health specialists and a wdh spine coordinator. The virtual center holds bimonthly multidisciplinary conferences to coordinate the care and treatment of spine center patients. Other services:in addition to the services listed above, wentworth-douglass hospital offers traditional services with non-traditional components. One example is the birth center. Currently the birth center is the fastest growing birthing service in the seacoast area with over 1,000 births per year. In an effort to support a small but growing and young indonesian population, the birth center translated all forms and information for new mothers into indonesian. Local church groups welcomed indonesian families into their communities. Cardiology services recently replaced the cath lab with new equipment and the department added non-invasive cardiovascular services at a new, offsite medical office building in dover, extending the options now available for patients. A second cardiovascular interventional lab was opened late in 2010 to accommodate growing patient volume and urgent cases. All the community assistance (benefit) services support low income, uninsured individuals and families in the hospital's service area with charity care (financial assistance), medication assistance, the wentworth-douglass community dental center and the care-van free patient transport service.