History of Androscoggin Valley Hospital

Berlin’s first health care facility, the Hospital St. Louis, opened in 1905 under the direction of the Sisters of Charity with room for 15 patients. It was named for Reverend Louis M. LaPlante, pastor of St. Anne’s parish, who had pursued the project since his arrival in 1899. He saw the need for a place to care for the sick and injured, and donated a house and land next to the church for the hospital. (The house was formerly the Cascade House, a summer hotel built in 1877.)

In 1971, ownership and administrative control of the hospital was transferred from the Sisters of Charity to a community-based nonprofit corporation. St. Louis Hospital became Androscoggin Valley Hospital.

The need to renovate or replace the aging facility was evident, and four years later, plans were approved for an entirely new hospital facility to be located a mile and a half north. The most successful fundraising effort ever undertaken in the Berlin area brought in $200,000 in pledges, which spurred groundbreaking on September 11, 1976. Construction continued over the next two years.

Dedication for the new AVH on Page Hill Road in Berlin took place on November 26, 1978, with ceremonies attended by some 2,000 persons. A keynote speaker from the Center for Small and Rural Hospitals for the American Hospital Association said AVH had adopted “some of the most advanced concepts in health care in the nation.”

Recent Milestones at AVH

The past dozen years have seen a steady expansion of facilities and services, and the addition of many talented providers to meet the growing needs of our communities:

1999
  • AVH began a collaboration with the New England Heart Institute of Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, which has allowed numerous cardiology patients to receive their pre- and post-surgical care close to home in Berlin, while benefiting from the resources of CMC.

2004
  • Two Orthopaedic providers and two support staff members created AVH Surgical Associates, the specialty physician practice of Androscoggin Valley Hospital.

2005
  • AVH Surgical Associates added the specialties of Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)/Allergy (in Berlin and Lancaster), Audiology, and Obstetrics/Gynecology; and a third Orthopaedic Surgeon joined the practice.

2006
  • A full-time OB/GYN practitioner joined AVH Surgical Associates. A General Surgery practice began with the use of locum tenens (temporary) physicians.

  • Androscoggin Valley Hospital became one of the last of New Hampshire’s 13 eligible rural hospitals to become a Critical Access Hospital (CAH). To receive CAH certification, a facility must meet these stringent requirements:
  • The hospital must be located in a rural area.

  • It must be more than 35 miles away from another CAH (more than 15 miles away in areas with mountainous terrain or secondary roads), or be certified by the state as being a “necessary provider” to the area. (The “necessary provider” designation was eliminated on Jan. 1, 2006.)

  • It must operate only 25 or fewer acute-care inpatient beds.

  • It must have an average length of stay of 96 hours (four days) or less.

  • It must provide 24-hour emergency care.

  • It must have transfer arrangements with a larger tertiary-care hospital.

  • It must develop an access improvement plan.

2007
  • AVH Surgical Associates assumed the departments of Anesthesia and Radiology.

  • General Surgery expanded to three full-time general surgeons, and an OB/GYN Clinic in Colebrook opened.

2009
  • The Hospitalist Program was developed.

  • A Neurology practice opened in both Berlin and Colebrook.

  • The ENT/Allergy Clinic expanded by adding a full-time mid-level provider.

  • The OB/GYN specialty added a third physician.

  • The Medication Administration Clinic was established.

2010
  • Dr. Daniel van Buren became the North Country’s only full-time New England Heart Institute Cardiologist.

  • A full-time mid-level Neurology provider joined AVH.
  • AVH Home Health and Hospice relocated to its own offices on Twelfth Street in Berlin.

  • The AVH Professional Center at 7 Page Hill Rd. was extensively renovated.

  • The Center for Sleep Medicine at AVH was inaugurated.

2011
  • The Neurology clinic was re-located to its present location on the third floor of the hospital.

  • A urology practice was added.

  • ENT/Allergy began outreach to Colebrook.

  • Another Orthopaedic Surgeon joined the practice, and began serving patients not only in Berlin, but began providing outreach via a clinic in Colebrook.