Androscoggin Valley Hospital

Description

Androscoggin Valley Hospital Mission Statement
The mission of AVH is outlined in the following statement The specific purpose of the hospital shall be

To establish support manage and furnish facilities personnel and
services to provide diagnostic surgical and hospital care extended care
outpatient care home care effective management of pain and other medically
related services to persons in need without regard to race creed color
gender sexual orientation national origin handicap or ability to pay

To assume a leadership role in helping to ensure the good health of the
community through activities related to rendering healthcare services and the
promotion of health which in the opinion of the Board of Directors may be
justified by the facilities personnel funds or other requirements that are
or can be made available

To foster within the organization a set of values that includes integrity
compassion belief in the dignity of human beings respect for individual
differences and a commitment to service for the welfare of the community

To provide health education programs to encourage adoption of health
promoting behavior and to foster a safe healthy community environment

To promote a culture within the organization that fosters widespread
commitment to continuously improving the quality of care and services and
that instills in each employee a sense of pride and ownership

To engage in any and all activities consistent with or in furtherance of the
above purposes

Androscoggin Valley Hospital Vision Statement
Androscoggin Valley Hospital will be a regional provider of high quality diversified primary and specialized medical services to northern New Hampshire and to Coos County in particular We intend to accomplish this by maintaining a consistent focus on our patients and their needs by continuously striving to improve services by investing in our employees and the community and by involving both in decisions affecting the provision of health care

History

History of Androscoggin Valley Hospital
Berlins first health care facility the Hospital St Louis opened in 1905 under the direction of the Sisters of Charity with room for 15 patients It was named for Reverend Louis M LaPlante pastor of St Annes parish who had pursued the project since his arrival in 1899 He saw the need for a place to care for the sick and injured and donated a house and land next to the church for the hospital The house was formerly the Cascade House a summer hotel built in 1877

Fr LaPlante obtained initial approval from the Bishop of Manchester to have the hospital headed by the Sisters of Charity and then proceeded to St Hyacinth Quebec to discuss it with the Sisters They agreed to come to Berlin to manage the newly found hospital

Two years later when Father LaPlante wanted to donate the hospital to the Sisters they chose to raise 1000 as a purchase price and presented it to him on October 9 1907

In 1909 St Louis Hospital was incorporated under the laws of the State of New Hampshire and became a definite unit of the order of the Sisters of Charity

In 1912 when the new St Regis Academy was being built the old wooden structure was cut in thirds One section was added to the hospital and renovated This provided room for up to 50 patients Further renovations took place over the years and at the time of Berlins centennial celebration in 1929 the hospital accommodated 63 patients

In 1927 the St Louis Hospital School of Nursing was founded to meet the areas needs for professional nurses The school continued until 1972 when it closed due to a decline in clinical experience required by the students Over 345 nurses had graduated from the school

The American College of Surgeons first approved St Louis Hospital in 1927 This approval was retained through 1953 when the ACS transferred its authority for approval to the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Hospitals Since then the hospital has continued to be accredited by JCAH

As the Berlin area continued to grow its medical needs increased In 1937 the Sisters of Charity made the decision to add a threestory addition to the hospital at a cost of 80000 increasing bed capacity to 98 Groundbreaking ceremonies for the final wing occurred in May 1954 The new building cost 1000000 and was designed to increase patient beds to 125 The mortgage funds were obtained by the Sisters

After construction began a fund raising campaign was started to raise 36500 for equipment and furnishings which netted over 55000 in pledges The new wing was completed and dedicated in the summer of 1955 at special ceremonies marking the hospitals fiftieth anniversary

On July 1 1971 the ownership and administrative control of the hospital was transferred from the Sisters of Charity to a communitybased nonprofit corporation Thus St Louis Hospital became the Androscoggin Valley Hospital

The need to renovate the aging facility or to totally replace it was evident at that time Four years later the plans for an entirely new hospital facility to be located a mile and a half north of the present hospital were approved Spurred by the most successful fund raising effort ever undertaken in the Berlin area bringing in 1200000 in pledges groundbreaking took place on September 11 1976 Construction continued over the next two years and was completed in November 1978

Dedication for the new AVH took place on November 26 1978 with ceremonies attended by some 2000 persons A keynote speaker from the Center for Small and Rural Hospitals for the American Hospital Association said AVH had adopted some of the most advanced concepts in health care in the nation

The modern 84bed facility opened to patients on December 16 1978 Much advance planning was considered to make the new building flexible and expandable in all directions This gives assurance to the community that the new AVH need not suffer a future crisis from inability to change with the times

On January 1 2006 Androscoggin Valley Hospital became one of the last of New Hampshires 13 eligible rural hospitals to become a Critical Access Hospital

Congress created the Critical Access Hospital Program in 1997 to support small rural hospitals that have been hit hard by the exploding cost of health care Central to that piece of legislation was a new method of Medicare reimbursement A CAH would be reimbursed more closely to the actual cost of care rather than the traditional prospective payment system which uses a complicated formula based on a hospitals financial data and Medicares allowable costs