Despite some controversy over a contract, today Dartmouth-Hitchcock officially takes over operations at New Hampshire Hospital, the state’s only psychiatric hospital.
Dartmouth has come under heavy criticism from some of the outgoing psychiatric staff at New Hampshire Hospital; they say Dartmouth wasn’t willing to have a fair conversation with them about salary and compensation, and they’re skeptical Dartmouth is ready to care for the patients currently at the state hospital.
Health Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers disagrees. He approves of Dartmouth’s bid to run NH Hospital.
"As commissioner, I will determine no later than the end of July whether or not the current bidder will be able to perform fully," Meyers said.
For its part, Dartmouth says it's temporarily reassigning some psychiatric staff from its Lebanon facility to the state hospital in Concord. Dartmouth says patients at both facilities will be well cared for during the transition.