SolutionHealth files to unwind 2018 merger

The executive leadership of Bedford, N.H.-based SolutionHealth is seeking to dissolve the system and return to separate, independent, board-governed systems. 

The system launched in 2018 after Manchester, N.H.-based Elliot Health System and Nashua-based Southern New Hampshire Health signed an agreement to combine operations. The combined entity, SolutionHealth, aimed to provide and improve medical care through the sharing of EHRs and other advancements in medical technology. Merrimack, N.H,.-based Home Health & Hospice Care was added as a member in 2022. 

The boards of SolutionHealth, Elliot Health System and Southern New Hampshire Health submitted their dissolution proposal with New Hampshire state officials on July 14. Home Health & Hospice Care will also negotiate a disaffiliation agreement, according to SolutionHealth’s website.  

“After using good-faith efforts to collaborate through the combination, the hospital systems have determined that they will be better positioned to continue to provide quality, efficient physician and mental health care services in southern New Hampshire by unwinding the combination and operating separately and independently and/or with potential future third party affiliates,” the members said in their July 14 proposal.

The proposal is being reviewed by New Hampshire’s Charitable Trusts Unit, which could take up to six months. 

SolutionHealth provides primarily administrative support to its members and does not provide healthcare delivery, according to its website. 

“Elliot Health System, Southern New Hampshire Health, and Home Health and Hospice Care have been providing care for their communities for more than 130 years, and this will continue,” the website said.