This story by Clare Shanahan was first published in The Valley News on Oct. 15.
LEBANON — Dartmouth Health Advanced Response Team, or DHART, will expand with a recent $6.7 million donation.
The money will cover three phases of improvements, including purchasing new vehicles, developing an EMT certification program and implementing new dispatch software to all Dartmouth Health member hospitals.
The donation came earlier this year from the estate of Les Haynes, of the Lakes Region, who “credited DHART with saving his life on several occasions,” and regularly drove other members of his rural community to DHMC to help them access care, according to a Dartmouth Health news release.
DHART transports patients to medical facilities across the Northeast, including Northern New England and upstate New York, by ambulance or helicopter, especially from rural areas. It is New Hampshire’s only air ambulance service.
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center offers specialized care that is not available elsewhere in the state or some other parts of the broader New England region. This means patients often travel from great distances to access Dartmouth Health facilities, including in emergencies through DHART.
The gift and DHART’s expansion come as demand for the team’s services has increased because “many towns’ ambulances face staffing or funding shortages, and local hospitals have been forced to reduce specialty care programs,” DHART director Michael Mulhern said in the release.
Currently, DHART has a fleet of four ambulances and four helicopters, although only two of the helicopters are operational while the other two are backups, Cassidy Smith, a Dartmouth Health spokeswoman, said via email Tuesday.
The donation will be used to expand DHART resources across three phases.
Early next year, DHART will buy two new ambulances for “basic transport in the region,” Smith said. During “phase one” the team will not purchase any new helicopters.
In the second phase, beginning in 2026 or 2027, DHART will develop an EMT certification program and will implement coordinated dispatch software at member hospitals, according to the release.
In the final phase, beginning in mid-2028, DHART will invest in fleet management and transportation resources in Southern New Hampshire.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Dartmouth Health’s air and ground transport to expand with $6.7 million donation.