New Hampshire Approves Critical Investment in the Community Mental Health System

CONCORD, NH - Today, Governor Kelly Ayotte and Executive Councilors Joe Kenney, Karen Liot-Hill, and Janet Stevens approved critical funding to expand access to comprehensive behavioral health and substance use disorder services and ensure the long-term sustainability of New Hampshire's community mental health system. This contract will establish a hub overseen by the Governor's Office of New Opportunities & Rural Transformational Health (GO-NORTH) to support stronger access, improved service delivery, workforce growth, and long-term rural health system sustainability.

This investment is the fifth hub to implement New Hampshire's five-year Rural Health Transformation plan from funding awarded from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which was awarded in December 2025 and provides more than $204 million for the first year - the largest award among New England states.

"Our community mental health centers are critical to ensuring that all Granite Staters have access to quality mental health care in New Hampshire, and our GO-NORTH team worked hand-in-hand with them to put together a plan to make the system stronger, more sustainable, and more accessible," said Governor Ayotte. "I thank Councilors Kenney, Stevens, and Liot-Hill for their commitment to strengthening New Hampshire's mental health system and helping more people in our state access high-quality, compassionate mental health care. I look forward to continuing our work through GO-NORTH to deliver a healthier future for all of New Hampshire."

The Community Mental Health Hub approved today will transform New Hampshire's community mental health system through four coordinated projects:

• Adopting a common electronic health records system across all community mental health centers to better coordinate care.
• Expanding proven sustainable care models to provide integrated behavioral health, substance use disorder, and primary care to all patients and expanded availability of 24/7 crisis help.
• Coordinating operations for billing, technology, and staffing across the community mental health system to streamline operations.
• Investing in training, education, and behavioral health workforce development in partnership with our community colleges, universities, and other education partners.

GO-NORTH and its partners will monitor progress closely and report on outcomes to help ensure this investment delivers transformational change to the State's community mental health system.