Community Conversations with North Country Healthcare
Community Conversations with North Country Healthcare
Over the past several weeks, North Country Healthcare hosted Community Conversations across the North Country. We want to begin with gratitude. Thank you to everyone who came, listened, spoke honestly, and engaged with care for the future of healthcare in our region.
These sessions were created as listening spaces. They were not presentations or decision-making meetings, but opportunities to hear directly from patients, staff, partners, and neighbors about their experiences with local healthcare and with North Country Health through guided discussion.
The conversations were candid and, at times, emotional. We heard concerns about access, staffing, communication, and change. We also heard pride in our local hospitals, deep appreciation for frontline caregivers, and a shared desire to keep healthcare strong and close to home. What stood out most was how much people care.
We partnered with New Hampshire Listens at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire because of their expertise in structured public dialogue and their commitment to balanced facilitation. Their team is now preparing a formal summary of the themes shared across all sessions to ensure what was said is reflected accurately and fairly.
While we await that report, conversations are already happening internally. Leadership teams are reviewing what we heard, identifying patterns, and beginning to discuss next steps. Listening does not end when the chairs are folded up. It continues in the way we reflect, plan, and respond.
We also want to be clear about our commitment. North Country Healthcare was built on the belief that our hospitals and services are stronger together. Our goal remains to keep each of our hospitals and our home health and hospice services open, strong, and providing excellent, integrated care close to home. That work requires discipline, transparency, and long-term planning, especially in a rural healthcare environment facing workforce shortages, financial pressures, and increasing complexity.
But it also requires partnership.
The Community Conversations reminded us that the North Country cares deeply about its healthcare system. That shared commitment is something to build on.
In the coming weeks, we will share a summary of what we heard and how it will help shape our path forward. Additional listening sessions are being planned so that this dialogue continues.
If you would like to share additional thoughts, have more questions you’d like answered, you can reach us at any time at [email protected].
Thank you for showing up, speaking up, and caring about the future of healthcare in the North Country. We are listening, and we are moving forward together.