Androscoggin Valley Hospital (AVH), a member of North Country Healthcare in Berlin, performed its first cataract surgery in recent memory on August 20, 2026, a milestone made possible through the hospital’s partnership with North Country Ophthalmology, a physician-led alliance of board-certified MD ophthalmologists that began seeing patients at AVH in January.
Since launching its first clinic day on January 9, 2026, North Country Ophthalmology has held biweekly sessions at AVH treating a range of serious eye conditions including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts. In that time, NCO physicians have seen nearly 500 patients, all of whom are North Country residents who previously had to travel hours to Concord, Manchester or beyond for the same care. This includes providing vision-restoring office procedures, including laser eye surgery and retinal injections. Adding on-site cataract surgery brings full-scope surgical eye care to Berlin for the first time in years.
From left: Jennifer Ling, MD, and surgical technicians Amy Kelly and Maris Villnave. (Courtesy of North Country Ophthalmology)
The partnership between NCO and AVH began in September 2025 to return specialty eye care to a region that had long lacked consistent local access. The program operates on a rotating physician model, with board-certified MD ophthalmologists traveling to Berlin on a regular schedule rather than requiring a full-time permanent relocation. This approach has allowed the program to expand steadily since its launch.
The New Hampshire Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons has pointed to the NCO model as a potential template for restoring specialty care in rural communities across the state. The program is physicianled, locally rooted in an existing Critical Access Hospital infrastructure, and designed around the needs of patients who lack easy access to urban medical centers.
The August 20 surgery resulted from collaboration across the AVH care team, including physicians, anesthesia providers, nurses and operational staff, all working together to make on-site eye surgery possible at a rural hospital.
The milestone comes as North Country communities continue to navigate significant pressures in rural healthcare, including workforce shortages and uncertainty around Medicaid funding. NCO’s expansion at AVH is one of the more concrete examples of specialty care returning to the region rather than continuing to consolidate elsewhere.
Timothy Peters, MD, is a founding member of North Country Ophthalmology, and is part of the New Hampshire Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons.
If you live in Manchester or Concord, you probably don’t think twice about finding a doctor. There is a specialist within a few miles for almost anything you need. But if you live in Colebrook, or Lancaster, or any one of dozens of small communities spread across New Hampshire’s North Country, the picture looks very different, and the gap between those two realities is wider than most people realize.
Androscoggin Valley Hospital (AVH), a member of North Country Healthcare in Berlin, performed its first cataract surgery in recent memory on August 20, 2026, a milestone made possible through the hospital’s partnership with North Country Ophthalmology, a physician-led alliance of board-certified MD ophthalmologists that began seeing patients at AVH in January.
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