The virtual groups and programs we made available over the last few years were a lifeline to hundreds of older adults who were largely isolated otherwise.
Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF, Vice President, GCOEDartmouth Health will formally celebrate the creation of its Geriatric Center of Excellence (GCOE) this week with events on Thursday, September 14, and Friday, September 15. GCOE is committed to promoting vital aging for older adult patients of Dartmouth Health and delivering world-class, person-centered care to older adults across northern New England.
“Our Center of Excellence was in its infancy stage in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and was physically closed in March 2020. We are so excited to finally celebrate GCOE and share it with the public,” said Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF, Vice President of the GCOE. “The virtual groups and programs we made available over the last few years were a lifeline to hundreds of older adults who were largely isolated otherwise. As we keep those virtual options available, expanding our physical, in-person presence will only strengthen this critically important asset.”
GCOE fulfills Dartmouth Health’s aims as an Age-Friendly Health System through four foundational pillars: education, research, policy and patient-centered care. These pillars work together to support, align, coordinate, and promote geriatric initiatives across Dartmouth Health, and extend through many parts of the system, particularly the Aging Resource Center and Geriatric Emergency Department.
This week’s events are open to the public. They include:
- A policy discussion about issues and aging in New Hampshire with U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-NH) chief of staff
- A presentation from Audrey H. Calderwood, MD, MS, director of the Comprehensive Gastroenterology Center at Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), on her study on testing for colon polyps
- The Dartmouth Health Aging Resource Center’s annual open house
- A Grand Rounds presentation on improving the care of patients with and at risk for delirium given by Mark A. Oldham, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center
- A celebration ceremony featuring Dartmouth Health leadership
The events will be held in-person at DHMC and the Aging Resource Center, and will also all be available to join virtually. For more information on these events, visit https://bit.ly/3Ph8y42.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.