High-performing organizations understand the power of an integrated strategy that connects safety, clinical quality, employee engagement, and patient experience.
Patrick T. Ryan, CEO and chair, Press GaneyThree Dartmouth Health member hospitals were named 2025 Human Experience Award winners by Press Ganey, the global leader in healthcare experience solutions and services. These prestigious awards recognize organizations setting the bar in safety, quality, nursing excellence, employee engagement, and patient experience—the cornerstones of exceptional care.
The awardees are:
• Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital (APD) received the Guardian of Excellence award in the emergency department category
• New London Hospital (NLH) received the Pinnacle of Excellence and Guardian of Excellence awards for its Express Care Plus clinic
• Valley Regional Hospital received the Guardian of Excellence award in the ambulatory care category
The Pinnacle of Excellence award honors the best in healthcare, recognizing up to four organizations in each category that have attained top performance over several years. The Guardian of Excellence award recognizes organizations in the top 5% of their peer group over a one-year period.
“We are honored by this recognition of the care provided by APD’s nursing and technical staff,” said Michael T. Lynch, MD, MBA, president and CEO of APD. “Our emergency department team is truly dedicated to our mission is to improve the health and well-being of our community. We know we’re fulfilling that mission when our APD’s patients recognize the high-quality, personalized care they receive here, even during the difficult experience of an emergency department visit.”
“We are grateful for the recognition of Express Care Plus with two patient satisfaction awards,” said Lauren Geddes Wirth, MD, CEO and president of NLH. “These awards are a testament to the compassionate, high-quality care our staff provides to the patients we serve. We are honored to be entrusted with the care of our communities and remain dedicated to continually improving the patient experience.”
“We are honored to receive this recognition, which is a reflection of our culture, spirit and dedication to service,” said Matthew R. Foster, MD, MMM, CEO and president of VRH. “When people feel supported and connected to their work, they are empowered to provide the highest quality care for our patients.”
“Press Ganey is proud to honor the health systems and health plans that are setting new standards for healthcare,” said Patrick T. Ryan, CEO and chair of Press Ganey. “High-performing organizations understand the power of an integrated strategy that connects safety, clinical quality, employee engagement, and patient experience. Aligning these areas leads to better outcomes, stronger trust, and an elevated human experience across every touchpoint.”
To see a complete list of winning healthcare organizations, visit go.d-h.org/d887z4.
About Press Ganey
Press Ganey, the leading Human Experience (HX) healthcare performance improvement company, offers an integrated suite of solutions that address safety, clinical excellence, patient experience and workforce engagement. The company works with more than 41,000 healthcare facilities in its mission to reduce patient suffering and enhance caregiver resilience to improve the overall safety, quality and experience of care. Press Ganey is a PG Forsta company.
About Valley Regional Hospital
Founded in 1893, Valley Regional Hospital (VRH) is a nonprofit, critical access hospital located in Claremont, New Hampshire. As a proud member of the Dartmouth Health system, VRH offers a broad range of services, including primary care and specialized care through the Kane Center. The hospital features 21 private patient suites, with 4 bed progressive care capacity to accommodate patients who require continuous, higher-level care. Other offerings include a state-of-the-art emergency department, urgent care services, cancer care delivered in a dedicated infusion suite, comprehensive rehabilitation services, advanced imaging technologies, on-site laboratory, and much more. In collaboration with community partners, VRH works to address service gaps and enhance population health. The hospital fosters a culture rooted in integrity, excellence, accountability, and compassion, which guides both our workplace environment and the care we provide. These core values empower us to continually improve the health of the community and strengthen our team, ensuring that we deliver exceptional care at every step of our patients’ journey. In 2021, VRH was honored as Nonprofit Organization of the Year by the Claremont Chamber of Commerce. The hospital has also earned prestigious accolades, including the CMS 5-Star Rating and the IPRO Award for excellence in healthcare quality, care coordination, and safety initiatives.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.
About New London Hospital
As a member of Dartmouth Health, New London Hospital is a Critical Access Hospital serving 15 communities in the Kearsarge/Lake Sunapee region in central New Hampshire, providing primary care and specialized clinical services in a patient and family centered environment. In addition to services at the main campus in New London, primary and some secondary care is offered at the organization's Newport Health Center, a rural health center in Newport, NH. For more information, visit the New London Hospital website.