Becker’s Hospital Review honors New London Hospital CEO and president as one of America’s top critical access hospital executives

Lauren A. Geddes Wirth, MD
Lauren A. Geddes Wirth, MD

Lauren A. Geddes Wirth, MD, CEO and president of Dartmouth Health member New London Hospital (NLH), has been named one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s 90 critical access hospital CEOs to know for 2024. The CEOs recognized were selected for their devotion to high care quality, patient safety and financial stability, bringing crucial care services to their organizations, recruiting top physicians, and joining forces with larger hospitals and health systems that can provide additional resources.

Critical access hospitals are those that offer 24/7 emergency care and have no more than 25 inpatient beds. The executive honored by Becker’s were selected for being experts in service line expansion, provider recruitment and retention, and the establishment of key partnerships. Their efforts ensure their hospitals serve as vital resources for their communities.

Geddes Wirth was named NLH’s CEO and president last month, after serving in the roles on an interim basis since March. Prior to NLH, Geddes Wirth held multiple leadership positions in the Mass General Brigham (MGB) Community Physician Organization, including medical director roles and physician wellbeing chair. She also owned and practiced at Mill Brook Pediatrics, a MGB health system independent affiliate. Geddes Wirth is also a diplomat of the American Board of Pediatrics and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Geddes Wirth obtained her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and attended medical school at the former Brown-Dartmouth Medical Program. She completed her pediatric residency at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Rhode Island and was selected to serve an additional year as chief resident in pediatrics.

To view Becker’s full list, visit bit.ly/3YT1elb.

About Dartmouth Health

Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.

About New London Hospital

As a member of Dartmouth Health, New London Hospital is a Critical Access Hospital serving 15 communities in the Kearsarge/Lake Sunapee region in central New Hampshire, providing primary care and specialized clinical services in a patient and family centered environment. In addition to services at the main campus in New London, primary and some secondary care is offered at the organization's Newport Health Center, a rural health center in Newport, NH. For more information, visit the New London Hospital website.