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Dartmouth Health and Geisel School of Medicine plan to launch Dartmouth Health at Home in January 2027, backed by a $20 million gift from alumnus Richard “Dick” Levy. The pilot will serve 10 to 20 patients, with a long-term goal of reaching more than 1,000 patients and their families each year across New Hampshire and Vermont.
Dartmouth Health and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth are preparing to launch Dartmouth Health at Home, a program for in-home primary and palliative care backed by a $20 million gift from Dartmouth alumnus Richard “Dick” Levy. The pilot is scheduled to begin in January 2027 with 10 to 20 patients, with the health system aiming to expand the service over several years.
The program is intended to bring coordinated medical and supportive services to people who have difficulty reaching appointments or may benefit from care at home. Dartmouth Health plans to build the service gradually, with a stated goal of serving more than 1,000 patients and their families annually. At full scale, it is expected to employ about 30 clinicians and staff, according to Dr. Nathan Goldstein, chair of Dartmouth Health’s Department of Medicine and co-CEO of the program, who described the plans to Home Health Care News.
Planned services include primary care and palliative care, alongside support for family caregivers. The initiative will establish a Family Caregiver Institute to offer caregivers services, education, support and access to home care aides. The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice will study how home-based services work and examine their costs for health systems, patients and payers.
Goldstein said the program’s teams will include physicians, advanced practice providers, social workers and home health aides. They are expected to review patients’ care at least weekly. The program also plans to provide home safety assessments and 24/7 phone support for patients and families. These are described as planned features; the pilot has not yet begun.
Bringing Care to Rural Homes
The initiative addresses a practical barrier to care: some patients, particularly older or frail adults, rely on relatives to get to medical appointments. Home visits could reduce that travel burden and let clinicians see conditions that may be difficult to assess in a clinic, including medication use, food availability and potential fall hazards. Goldstein said timely visits may help clinicians identify and treat problems before they become acute.
The proposed approach also matters because it combines medical care with social work and caregiver support rather than relying on a single provider visit. Dartmouth Health says earlier treatment and better medication management could help avoid some emergency visits and hospital stays. Those are expected benefits, not demonstrated results: the program will need to track patient outcomes, service use and costs to establish whether the model achieves them.
The $20 million gift provides funding to start the initiative, but it is not presented as long-term operating support. Dartmouth Health says research into costs, revenue and payer arrangements will help determine whether the service can be financially sustainable. That question will be relevant to other health systems considering home-based care, particularly in rural areas where travel distances can complicate access.
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From Local Pilot to Wider Reach
Dartmouth Health at Home is planned as a phased program, beginning locally so the organization can adjust services in response to feedback from patients and caregivers. Goldstein told Home Health Care News that the longer-term plan is to expand across New Hampshire and Vermont, with the stated ambition of serving all patients receiving care from Dartmouth Health.
Goldstein has described the model as a coordinated shift of some care from hospitals and outpatient facilities into patients’ homes. The program is also intended to study how that shift can be carried out safely and whether it can reduce costs. The $20 million contribution from Levy is enough to begin the work, Goldstein said, but Dartmouth Health will need an ongoing financial model supported by services attractive to private and government payers.
The health system has also said it hopes the model could eventually be adopted in rural communities elsewhere in the United States. That is an aspiration, not a confirmed expansion plan beyond the stated regional goals. The initial pilot and the institute’s research are expected to inform whether the approach can be adapted more broadly.
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Funding and Outcomes Remain Open
The program has not yet started, so its effects on health outcomes, hospital use and costs are not known. The source report does not provide a detailed budget, a breakdown of how the gift will be spent, or the specific criteria for selecting patients for the 10-to-20-person pilot. It is also not clear which locations will host the initial services or how the pilot will measure success.
Long-term financing remains unsettled. Goldstein said the gift will fund the launch but will not sustain the program indefinitely; the Dartmouth Institute is expected to examine costs, revenue and potential financial margins. Details of payer contracts and the pace of expansion have not been reported. The goal of reaching more than 1,000 patients annually is a future target, not a current service capacity.
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Pilot Launch and Evaluation
Dartmouth Health at Home is scheduled to begin its 10-to-20-patient pilot in January 2027. The program plans to use early patient and caregiver feedback to refine its services, while interdisciplinary teams coordinate care and provide the planned safety assessments and phone support.
Over the following several years, Dartmouth Health intends to expand the program toward its annual target of more than 1,000 patients and families, first across New Hampshire and Vermont. The Dartmouth Institute’s work on service costs, revenue and payer interest will help inform whether the program can continue beyond the gift-funded launch. Dartmouth Health has not provided a detailed schedule for reaching full scale or for any expansion outside the region.
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Key Questions
What is Dartmouth Health at Home?
It is a planned Dartmouth Health and Geisel School of Medicine program offering primary and palliative care in patients’ homes, with caregiver support and other coordinated services.
When will the program begin, and how many people will it initially serve?
The pilot is planned for January 2027 and is expected to serve 10 to 20 patients. The service has not yet launched.
How will the program be funded?
A $20 million gift from Dartmouth alumnus Richard “Dick” Levy will support the launch. Dartmouth Health says the gift will not cover the program’s long-term costs, so it is studying financial sustainability and potential payer support.
Who is expected to receive care at home?
The program is designed for patients who have difficulty getting to medical appointments or may benefit from care at home. Specific pilot eligibility rules have not been reported.
Will the program expand beyond the pilot?
Dartmouth Health aims to grow the service over several years to reach more than 1,000 patients and families annually, with regional expansion planned across New Hampshire and Vermont. The timing and details of that growth remain unclear.
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