We're Stronger Together

The unified voice for New Hampshire hospitals and health systems and the patients and communities they serve.

• 2026 NHHA/FHC ANNUAL MEETING

  Check out the 2026 Annual Meeting Agenda!

• BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

  Building a System of Care

• WORKFORCE SUSTAINABILITY

  Ensuring a Future Health Care Workforce

• RESOURCES AND REPORTS

  Keeping you Informed

Welcome to NHHA

The New Hampshire Hospital Association (NHHA) is dedicated to providing leadership through advocacy, education, and information to support our hospital members and health care systems.

 

NHHA works diligently to help its members adapt to the immense challenges and shifts taking place in the health care industry as they strive to improve the health of the patients and communities they serve.

Mission/Vision
Meet Our Members

A Message From Our President

 

Every day in New Hampshire, hospitals face a challenge that is largely invisible to the public but deeply impacts patients, families and the entire health care system. Our newly released Barriers to Discharge: 2026 Snapshot Report highlights a troubling reality: patients who are medically ready to leave the hospital often cannot do so because the services, supports, housing or post-acute care they need are unavailable.

 

On a single day during the week of August 31, 2026, New Hampshire hospitals reported 120 patients who remained hospitalized after being medically cleared for discharge, accounting for more than 7,750 unnecessary hospital days. At the same time, an average of 63 patients were waiting in emergency departments for an inpatient bed.

 

These delays are not simply hospital challenges. They reflect broader system gaps, including shortages of long-term care placements, lengthy Medicaid determinations, limited dementia and specialized services, housing barriers and a lack of community-based supports. Most importantly, they affect real people whose recovery and quality of life depend on timely access to the right care in the right setting at the right time.

 

The report also underscores the significant financial impact, estimating more than $26 million in non-reimbursable hospital costs associated with these unnecessary stays. Resources that could be directed toward patient care are instead tied up in a system struggling to move patients to the next level of care.

 

Addressing discharge barriers will require collaboration across the entire continuum of care. Hospitals, long-term care providers, community organizations, insurers and policymakers must work together to create sustainable solutions. The New Hampshire Hospital Association remains committed to advancing those conversations and advocating for reforms that ensure every patient can receive timely, appropriate care while preserving access to hospital services for all Granite Staters.

 

Be healthy, stay well!

 

Steve Ahnen

 

President

Endorsed Business Partner Spotlight of the Month

 

Medical Solutions Increase Efficiency to Do More with Less

The pandemic may be diminishing, but the crunch for skilled clinicians remains. The demand for quality nurses still outstrips supply, making hiring and retaining staff a challenge. While a managed services provider (MSP) cannot directly solve the supply and demand issue, it can dramatically increase hiring efficiency, and allow facilities to do more with less. A dedicated staffing partner can help reduce the burden of many hiring tasks.

Your Care Connection

Maintaining a 99% client retention rate, Medical Solutions provides innovative staffing support in partnership with our hospital and health system clients. Our organic growth, along with strategic acquisitions such as FocusOne Solutions and Aureus Medical, strengthens Medical Solutions for a combined 70+ years of healthcare staffing experience. This makes us “better together.”

Services Provided

Our MSP program was launched as a response to the changing landscape in temporary healthcare staffing and the growing need for healthcare systems to take a more quality-focused approach to contract staffing. Our MSP is a comprehensive, wrapround service designed to deliver quality candidates and whole-house program management in a stressed labor market. Our Hybrid Recruiting Model  is “vendor competitive.” We utilize the resources of over 400 internal recruiters and over 500 network affiliates on our vendor panel. This ensures that all resources are deployed immediately to find staff that it is not only the best clinical and cultural fit, but also 100% licensed and compliant for all your requests. This approach has helped us to achieve a 95% traveler completion rate among our MSP clients.

medicalsolutions.com

 

Endorsed Business Partner Corporate Members

Our Impact:

80,875 Jobs

As employers, New Hampshire hospitals and health systems create thousands of jobs both internally and in the broader community through the support of other businesses.

 

Read more about the impact of NH hospitals and health systems on the state economy.

Read More

Area of Focus

Advocacy

We work collaboratively with our members, state and federal officials and other stakeholders to develop and influence public policy, and ensure the legal and regulatory framework change is conducive to support effective health care policy and services.

• Advocacy Agenda
• Legislative Update
• Bill Tracker

Health Care Issues & Topics

Massive amounts of information, rules, and regulations impact how New Hampshire hospitals and health systems do business and take care of patients. We compile and share information for members on critical issues, trends, and best practices.

Access to Care

Behavioral Health

Emergency Preparedness

Licensure & Regulatory Compliance

Reimbursement

Price Transparency

Workforce