[Steven's] expertise and proven track record of mission-driven leadership and patient-centered outcomes will accelerate NLH’s strategic goals, ensuring we can continue our mission of providing high-quality healthcare to the communities we serve.
Lauren A.G. Wirth, MDSteven J. Finnegan, MHA, the current chief operating officer (COO) of Hampstead Hospital and Residential Treatment Facility, has been named COO of New London Hospital (NLH). Hampstead and NLH are both members of Dartmouth Health.
As COO, Finnegan will provide operational leadership and executive oversight to the organization and to New London Medical Group, Newport Health Center, radiology, rehabilitation, and support services.
Finnegan joined Hampstead in July 2022, overseeing the daily operations for the 82-bed pediatric and adolescent psychiatric hospital. In this role, Finnegan increased staffing levels, reduced patient admission time, and partnered with the executive management team on strategic initiatives, growth planning, and operational improvements.
“We are thrilled to welcome Steven as the next COO of NLH,” said Lauren A.G. Wirth, MD, president and CEO of NLH. “His expertise and proven track record of mission-driven leadership and patient-centered outcomes will accelerate NLH’s strategic goals, ensuring we can continue our mission of providing high-quality healthcare to the communities we serve.”
Previously, Finnegan held two director of operations roles at Beth Israel Lahey Health in Massachusetts, as well as roles at Wentworth-Douglas Hospital in Dover and Boston Children’s Hospital. Finnegan is a graduate of Anna Maria College in Massachusetts with a bachelor of arts in public policy and a master of science in emergency management. He also received his master of healthcare administration degree from Southern New Hampshire University and is a current doctoral candidate at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Finnegan succeeds Lori Underwood, who retired as COO in January. He will begin his new role at the end of April 2026.
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; Dartmouth Health Home Care; 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.