Building a stronger community and a healthier future.
Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene (CMC/DHK) is a nonprofit charitable organization committed to protecting and improving the health of our community.
 We partner with other healthcare providers in the region to assess and prioritize the health and human service needs of the Monadnock region. Community leaders and members told us that people need access to affordable, convenient medical, dental and mental-health care. Needs are greatest among the poor and uninsured. Many patients need help navigating the healthcare system to find the right services.
As the primary provider of healthcare services in Cheshire County, we care for everyone, regardless of ability to pay. CMC/DHK donated $7.7 million in services to benefit the community in fiscal year 2009 (October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009). As the region’s community hospital, CMC provides free and reduced-cost services including emergency room care; medical visits; hospital care, tests and treatment; prescription medication; and dental screenings, cleanings and sealants to individuals in need. We serve individuals of every age from towns of all sizes in the Monadnock region. Last year, close to $2.2 million was given to 2,255 people in the form of charity care to patients receiving services at CMC. Another $1.5 million was given to 2,816 patients receiving outpatient services from DHK. Combined, the two organizations offered close to $3.7 million in charity healthcare to the region.
Beyond charity care, our nonprofit organization also absorbed close to $16 million in costs because federal and state-funded insurance programs pay the hospital less than it costs to provide medical services to Medicare and Medicaid patients.
Healthcare for the uninsured
 Thirteen percent of residents in Cheshire County are uninsured, and many more are underinsured. Young adults working in restaurants, retail stores or construction commonly go without health insurance. One of our top priorities is reaching young families with children.
First, we work one-on-one with parents to make sure every child in the community has health insurance. Last year, counselors offered free individualized assistance to the families of 196 uninsured children who were able to get coverage through NH Healthy Kids, Medicaid and Medicare.
We want every child born at CMC to have health insurance and access to well-child care. Working with expectant parents, we enrolled 179 newborns in NH Healthy Kids so their healthcare coverage began at birth.
For uninsured adults, we offer automatic discounts and a sliding fee scale to uninsured patients. Last year, counselors helped more than 100 eligible adults obtain health insurance coverage, giving them access to essential services.
Promoting healthier lifestyles
 At CMC, we want to keep people well—to prevent visits to the emergency room or overnight stays in the hospital. We are working to make this community the healthiest in the nation. In 2009, hospital staff offered free education programs on a variety of chronic disease and wellness topics such as nutrition, diabetes, physical activity and weight loss. Residents ages 60 and older may participate in Senior Passport, a free program that offers low-cost meals, free health education and exercise programs such as Cheshire Walkers. A statewide effort called Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) makes preschools and offices healthier places to learn and work.
Helping you stay healthy
 In caring for the population, CMC/DHK staffs and operates a Community Health department with 13 people whose job it is to help promote wellness and prevent illness. Staff identify at-risk groups in the community and offer free and reduced-cost screenings, services, education and assistance. It costs more than half a million dollars annually to operate this department.
In 2009, we spent $1.6 million to educate 86,000 people in our community about how they could improve their health and prevent disease by offering:
- smoking-cessation and tobacco-prevention programs to schools, businesses and pregnant women
- exercise and nutrition training programs for older adults
- arthritis support groups and exercise services
- free breast and cervical cancer screenings for women
- a free prostate cancer screening clinic for men
- free skin cancer screenings
- free heart disease education and screenings for women
- healthy nutrition and exercise education for children
- a learning library for cancer patients and families
- a learning center for back pain and rehab patients
- clinical training and supervision of high school athletic teams to prevent and treat sports injuries
For the most common health problems, we offer structured therapeutic programs that teach patients and families how to understand and cope with a chronic illness like heart disease, lung disease or diabetes. This sometimes means learning new, healthier habits. These programs meet regularly over a series of weeks to address the physical, medical, emotional and social aspects of living with chronic conditions. The hospital subsidizes these programs because they are not fully covered by certain health plans. In fiscal year 2009, CMC devoted $430,000 to offer cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation to 362 area residents.
Building a healthier community
 CMC/DHK contributed $2.4 million toward making Cheshire County the healthiest community in the nation by 2020. To chart the course, we convened a broad-based community coalition. The Council for a Healthier Community identified five areas for improvement—health status, healthcare access, wellness, health literacy and social capital—to reach our bold goal.
Tell us your needs
We welcome your feedback on how we assess and fulfill the health needs of the community. Click here to view a detailed report of CMC’s 2009 Community Benefits Report. To share your thoughts and suggestions, contact:
Yvonne Goldsberry
Senior Director, Community Health
Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene
580 Court Street, Keene, NH 03431
(603) 354-5400, ext. 2002
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Click here for the pdf version of the 2009 Community Benefits Summary.
2008 Community Benefits Summary. (PDF file)
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