Verizon Prescribes a High Fiber-Optical 'Diet' for Southern New Hampshire Medical Center

NASHUA, N.H. - Southern New Hampshire Medical Center is serving the community and its patients, with a new emergency room, an expanded cardiac care unit and a new SONET telecommunications network that will help improve patient services.

"Southern New Hampshire Medical Center is investing in advanced telecommunications technology to fulfill our mission to provide exceptional medical care," said Dwight Muller, the center's vice president of information systems. "We know that when health care teams can share information instantly, patients immediately benefit. We looked to Verizon's expertise to design and build a next-generation network for interconnecting our main campus with all of our other health care facilities."

Patient Benefits

The SONET ring network is a communications channel format that allows voice and data to flow around a break or cut in a telephone cable, making it more reliable than a direct line. According to Muller, the Verizon designed-and-installed network will improve patient care as the use of electronic medical records increases, enabling doctors to share medical information and review their patients' records in advance. Also, the network will be the base for other services (purchased separately from other companies) that need lightning-fast speed and a large amount of bandwidth, such as the picture archiving and communications system (PACS). PACS service enables health care providers to store, retrieve, distribute and display medical images in a digital format.

Additionally, the hospital is able to move its administrative staff to nearby buildings and two other large facilities that are miles away to free up critical patient-care space. Now, staff members will be able to access records and do their work as if they were still located in the hospital.

John Clifford, regional sales manager, Verizon Enterprise Solutions Group, said, "Southern New Hampshire Medical Center has made a sound strategic investment. SONET is a technology workhorse that can grow in support of bandwidth intensive medical applications. It's the foundation that will provide the medical center with a stable, secure and resilient network."

Verizon Enterprise Solutions Group manages the design, operation and maintenance of end-to-end integrated network solutions for large business, government and education customers across the United States. With over 7,800 employees in 35 states, Verizon Enterprise Solutions Group offers a complete range of basic and advanced communications products and services to meet the voice, video, data and IP-related needs of its customers. In addition, over 5,200 field operations personnel support enterprise customers nationwide. In the enterprise market, Verizon Select Services Inc. provides Verizon long-distance service. For more information on products and services available through Verizon Enterprise Solutions Group, visit www.verizon.com/enterprisesolutions.

Southern New Hampshire Medical Center

Dedicated to meeting the medical needs of families throughout the region, Southern New Hampshire Medical Center retains the personal touch of a traditional community hospital while offering a higher level of care. Through partnerships with Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lahey Clinic and Children's Hospital in Boston, The Medical Center provides its patients with seamless access to these centers of excellence, and delivers a full complement of adult and maternal child health care. Part of Southern New Hampshire Health System, The Medical Center is affiliated with over 350 physicians, the largest network or primary care and specialty health care providers in southern New Hampshire. For further information about The Medical Center, visit www.snhmc.org or call the free physician referral line, HEALTHMATCH at 603-5770-CALL (2255).

With more than $71 billion in annual revenues, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon has a diverse work force of more than 214,000 in four business units: Domestic Telecom provides customers based in 28 states with wireline and other telecommunications services, including broadband. Verizon Wireless owns and operates the nation's most reliable wireless network, serving 47.4 million voice and data customers across the United States. Information Services operates directory publishing businesses and provides electronic commerce services. International includes wireline and wireless operations and investments, primarily in the Americas and Europe. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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