Dartmouth Health

Following a national search, we welcome Keith Thomasset, PharmD, MBA, as our next chief pharmacy officer. Thomasset joins New Hampshire’s only academic health system from Tufts Medicine, where he has served as the interim senior vice president imaging and chief pharmacy officer since 2021. "I am extremely honored and excited to join Dartmouth Health in the role of chief pharmacy officer,” said Thomasset. His tenure begins on August 19. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eYw6EKVb

New England Life Care, an in-home infusion therapy provider, elected Mary Bolg, vice president of operations for medical specialties and diagnostics at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Clinics), to its board of directors in June. With over 30 years of healthcare experience, Bolg leads DHMC’s departments of medicine, radiology, pathology, emergency medicine, psychiatry, community and family medicine, Dartmouth Health Children's, and the Digestive Center for Health. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dwH5cm9Y

Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth is expanding its partnership with Androscoggin Valley Hospital (AVH), a member of North Country Healthcare, a nonprofit affiliation of four medical facilities in New Hampshire’s White Mountains Region, to provide intensive care services to patients via telemedicine. "We are pleased to extend AVH’s telemedicine partnership with Dartmouth Health to include intensive care services,” North Country Healthcare Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Brian O’Hearn, MBA, BSN, CEN, said. “Providing 24/7 monitoring and access to the expertise of Dartmouth Health specialists only enhances the quality of care already available at AVH, and demonstrates our commitment to maintaining local access to critical care for people throughout our rural region." Read more: https://lnkd.in/eMsh9TWa

Final Update, July 23: As of Monday, July 22, Dartmouth Health is fully operational system-wide, having restored access to computers and related IT equipment impacted by the global Crowdstrike outage last week. All cases and appointments will proceed as scheduled. We appreciate your patience. Update, 2:30 PM: Dartmouth Health continues to see limited operational disruptions due to the global Microsoft outage, resulting from a software update issued by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Primary impacts involved access to several hospitals medication dispensing machines and some of our computers. Solutions have been identified and deployed. There have been minimal appointment cancellations from select Dartmouth Health members. We are pleased that all Dartmouth Health locations remain open and available for patient care. ⚠️ Due to the current global Microsoft outage, a result of the software update issued by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, Dartmouth Health locations are experiencing a widespread outage of multiple systems. Dartmouth Health is making every effort to ensure there is minimal patient disruption. Updates will be provided on Dartmouth Health’s website and social media channels as they become available.

A surge in demand for GLP-1 weight loss drugs has left many Americans living with obesity unable to access their medications. As Sarah Finn, MD, medical director of our Weight and Wellness Center, told WMUR-TV's Katherine Underwood, she has not been able to describe the drug Wegovy to her patients in a year, because there simply is none available. "We have no GLP-1 access in the state of New Hampshire to treat obesity," Dr. Finn said. "About 42.5% of America has obesity, and drug companies weren't at all prepared for the demand that was going to happen." https://lnkd.in/dkh8A539

The Prouty 2024 has exceeded all expectations, raising over $8 million to support research and patient support services at Dartmouth Cancer Center! Our heartfelt appreciation goes to the thousands who joined in, whether by volunteering, donating, walking, biking, rowing, golfing, or trying out the new mountain biking event. Together, we've turned a day of activities into a beacon of hope and progress in cancer treatment and care. Your participation, donations, and sheer enthusiasm have made a tangible difference. A huge thank you to everyone involved – your incredible generosity fuels promising research and vital services for those facing a very difficult journey. Here's to making even more strides together! ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/eiMa2R2u

Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital has received a transformative $4 million strategic investment from The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation. This gift establishes an endowed fund aimed at strengthening critical patient care initiatives and supporting healthcare providers in their ongoing delivery of compassionate care. “This generous gift is critically important to our patients and to the health of our community. It will allow us to provide comprehensive, compassionate care to some of our most vulnerable patients,” said Susan E. Mooney, MD, MS, FACOG, president and CEO of APD. The $4 million endowment will fund the integration of medical, social, and behavioral health services for patients with complex needs. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eFbCVyxE

"My doctors told me I would have had less than five years to live if the cancer went undetected." - Peter Lennon, fire marshal for the Manchester, NH Fire Department Cancer screenings can save lives. But what if your worst fear comes true? Dartmouth Cancer Center hematology oncologist and section chief of Medical Oncology, Linda Vahdat, MD, and Dartmouth Health Population Health Officer Sally Kraft, MD, MPH, share their advice on this topic.

A new study indicates that among patients diagnosed with COVID-19, those who used marijuana had a higher risk of hospitalization and intensive care unit admission. Researchers found a greater chance of COVID-19-related complications among marijuana users than abstainers, even after accounting for cigarette smoking, vaccination status, two or more co-existing diseases, and other risk factors. As Luke Archibald, MD, section chief of our Addiction Treatment Program, told United Press International, marijuana users with other risk factors, such as current or prior cigarette smoking, lack of vaccination and advanced age, may be particularly at risk for COVID-19-related complications, noting that compounds in the cannabis plant play "an important role in our immune response in ways that are not yet fully understood." https://bit.ly/3VMYR0z

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center is in the middle of a major expansion to its emergency department. The 12,000-square-foot addition includes five crisis beds dedicated to those experiencing a mental health emergency. In each new room is a CoWin media wall, which allows patients to play music and games, draw and look at soothing images with the touch of a finger. ED staff told WCAX-TV's Adam Sullivan that these mirror-sized tablets give patients in crisis something else to focus on. “They seem to cool, they seem to relax. They focus on this and they are much more approachable,” said Brenda Mattison, LNA. “It gives them that sense of, 'I’m in control of this.'” https://bit.ly/4bvkZCG