Dartmouth Health announces $10 million gift to launch Vickie French Hospital at Home as part of Dartmouth Health at Home

Dartmouth Health (DH) has received a transformational gift of $10 million from local philanthropist Kenneth R. French to establish the Vickie French Hospital at Home: a first-of-its-kind model of hospital care focused on patients in rural parts of Northern New England, the Hospital will be designed to bring the power of modern medicine directly to patients in their homes.

Named in honor of French's late wife Vickie, who worked alongside her husband to develop and refine this vision, the DH program will establish a “hospital without walls” where hospital-level care, including the kind of advanced monitoring and specialist consultations that take place in a traditional hospital, will flow seamlessly into the home. The goal is to create a home hospital program that could serve as a national model to be adapted and scaled to underserved and resource-constrained communities throughout the U.S.

“Bringing state-of-the-art hospital care into the home embodies Dartmouth Health’s commitment to building and sustaining an age-friendly health system,” said Joanne M. Conroy, MD, president and CEO of Dartmouth Health. “As part of our new Dartmouth Health at Home initiative, we are positioning ourselves to be at the leading edge of rural healthcare delivery and meet a long-existing need to innovate, build and implement smarter ways to care for our communities. The Vickie French Hospital at Home program is a defining step forward. We are profoundly grateful to Ken for entrusting us with his and Vickie’s vision, and we are humbled to honor Vickie’s legacy in such an impactful way.”

The Vickie French Hospital at Home program will be built around several interconnected components, each designed to meet patients at a different point of need:

• Acute Hospital at Home: Patients presenting to the emergency room or similar settings with acute diagnoses, such as heart failure or pneumonia, will receive hospital-level care in their homes rather than being admitted to an inpatient facility.
• Post-Operative Home Care: Patients recovering from surgery will be sent home earlier so they can continue their recovery at home under clinical supervision.
• Early Medical Discharge: Patients admitted for medical conditions will transition home sooner than would otherwise be possible, with treatment and monitoring continuing seamlessly in their homes.
• Palliative Care and Rehabilitation at Home: These components, to be developed during the initiative’s later phases, will provide expert, home-centered management for seriously ill patients, as well as those needing high-quality restorative services.

“As a practicing physician, I have seen firsthand that where care is delivered is often just as important as the type of care we provide,” said Nathan E. Goldstein, MD, chair of the department of medicine at Dartmouth Health and the Herman O. West Professor of Geriatrics at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. “For older patients, the home is where they heal best, feel safest, and retain the greatest sense of connectedness to their families and their community. With the launch of the Vickie French Hospital at Home program, we will be able to deliver this quality of care to our communities for the first time. And in doing so, set a new standard for the nation. This is a prime example of providing the right care to the right patient in the right place at the right time.”

The Vickie French Hospital at Home program, in combination with Dartmouth Health Home Care, formerly Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Vermont and New Hampshire, is a foundational element of Dartmouth Health at Home, the commitment that DH is making to transform rural healthcare delivery outside traditional hospitals. The Frenches’ gift arrives at a pivotal moment in American healthcare. By 2040, over 80 million Americans will be 65 or older, facing the highest risks of cancer, heart disease, dementia, and chronic illnesses—all within a fragmented system that often pulls them from their homes.

“Vickie and I spent a great deal of time thinking about what it means to age in rural northern New England, where people are often forced to travel long distances to reach the nearest hospital or a specialist,” said French, who is also the Roth Family Distinguished Professor of Finance, Emeritus at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. “Vickie believed—and I believe—that it doesn't have to be that way. The technology and knowledge exist to bring it all together in a way that truly works for rural communities. What has been needed is the commitment. I am honored to help make this vision a reality at Dartmouth Health in Vickie's name.”

The Frenches have been committed to transforming healthcare for at-risk populations in northern New England, where they have long called home, for many years. In 2008, they helped Dartmouth Health Children’s Child Advocacy and Protection Program expand its telemedicine services to reach vulnerable children in rural New Hampshire and Vermont, years before telehealth became widely embraced. That investment helped create one of the country's most trusted, evidence-driven service models for an at-risk population. With Hospital at Home, the Frenches’ vision turned to an equally urgent challenge: ensuring that older and medically vulnerable people can age with dignity, independence, and access to the best that medicine has to offer.

“Donors rarely reap any personal benefit from their philanthropic gifts,” said French. “With this program, however, I, alongside many others, may one day have the assurance that being cared for at home when it matters most is a possibility.”

“This is Dartmouth Health at its best: tackling the hardest problems with the rigor and compassion that our patients deserve,” said Conroy. “We are truly grateful to Ken for making this moment possible.”