At Cheshire, we are dedicated to providing the highest quality care in the safest possible setting for our community members. By now offering outpatient total joint surgeries, we are once again driving forward that mission.
Joseph Perras, MD, president and CEO of Cheshire Medical CenterCheshire Medical Center is increasing access to total joint surgeries by now offering knee, hip and shoulder procedures on an outpatient basis.
Cheshire County has one of the oldest populations in New Hampshire, and as community members continue to age, the demand for total joint replacements has grown. In 2023, Cheshire performed 351 inpatient shoulder, hip and knee replacement procedures, compared to 222 in 2022.
To help meet the need, Cheshire’s orthopaedic team began providing these outpatient surgeries in early November, partially made possible by the increase in its orthopaedic providers earlier this year. Patients who received total joint surgeries previously were often staying in the hospital for one to two nights.
“At Cheshire, we are dedicated to providing the highest quality care in the safest possible setting for our community members,” said Joseph Perras, MD, president and CEO of Cheshire Medical Center. “By now offering outpatient total joint surgeries, we are once again driving forward that mission.”
Nationally, projections indicate more than 50% of total joint procedures will be performed in the outpatient setting by 2026, with that number continuing to increase through 2030. This is due to a variety of factors, including improved surgical techniques and technology. Patients will also likely experience less pain and have a faster recovery time, which can be done at home.
Because of this, hospitals nationwide have begun providing these outpatient procedures. Cheshire joins other Dartmouth Health members offering this care, consisting of: Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital and Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.
“There have been an array of improvements in the surgical technique and technologies for more minimally invasive options that lead to less post-operative blood loss and pain,” said Vivek Venugopal, MD, orthopaedic physician at Cheshire Medical Center. “We’re excited to start this program up and offer what other sites in the DH system have been able to offer patients over the last couple years.”
Cheshire’s rollout of outpatient total joint surgeries happened simultaneously with its launch of robotic arthroplasty surgical tools, another way proven to lessen pain and give patients a faster recovery time.
With these methods working in tandem, Cheshire is moving forward its mission of improving patient outcomes and care.
To schedule an outpatient total joint surgery or other orthopaedic care, call 603-354-5482. More information can be found at cheshiremed.org/orthopaedics.
About Cheshire Medical Center
Cheshire Medical Center (Cheshire) is a Dartmouth Health member providing the communities in the Greater Monadnock Region a continuum of care spanning primary care and specialty medicine, to surgical services and acute inpatient care. For more than 130 years, Cheshire has been a key contributor to the health and vitality of the Monadnock Region. As a not-for-profit community medical center, Cheshire is deeply committed to delivering excellent care in a safe and welcoming environment. Cheshire is dedicated to being a great neighbor and serves as an integral community resource. Cheshire is the area's largest healthcare provider and leading employer. Along with the services delivered on their Keene campus and satellite locations, the Medical Center partners with local organizations to provide vital services and programs throughout the region. To learn more, call 603-354-5400 or visit the Cheshire Medical Center website.
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.