Tech Tidbits From Around New Hampshire

Representatives of Families First, Novocure and WJP Development of Portsmouth gather outside the site of the community health center’s Families First Health and Support Center, which is currently under construction. Novocure recently donated $250,000 in support of the organization’s capital campaign, which will help turn a former gym on Greenleaf Woods Drive in Portsmouth into a community health center providing medical, dental and behavioral health care; parent and family programs; an in-house pharmacy; and an SOS Recovery Center. Construction is under way and the opening is planned for late 2021.

Minim Inc., Manchester, has announced expansion of its Trusted Home solution to DStv subscribers of MultiChoice Group, which delivers programming to more than 20 million households across 50 countries in Africa. MultiChoice offers DStv Internet, a fixed wireless access service that enables subscribers to connect to the internet with a SIM card and Wi-Fi router. The service expands the audience for those who do not have fiber connectivity in their residential area.

Merrimack-based life sciences firm KMC Systems, which specializes in contract design and manufacturing services for medical device and diagnostics makers, has opened a 10,000-square-foot corporate innovation hub in Cambridge, Mass. KMC said plans to hire 40 to 60 employees to populate the hub over the next six to 12 months. They will take up about two-thirds of the office; the final third will be used as an incubation space for early-stage startups working with KMC.

The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems Inc. a 10-year contract to provide life-cycle sustainment and technical support to the Limited Interim Missile Warning System program. The contract has a ceiling value of $872 million.

Beacon Health Options, Manchester, has been chosen to manage a mental health crisis hotline for the New Hampshire Rapid Response System. The Department of Health and Human Services awarded the multi-year contract to operate the New Hampshire Rapid Response Access Point, which begins in January. Under the program, Beacon will become one of the New Hampshire answering points for 988, the behavioral health version of 911, when it launches next July. “Our immediate goal is to help alleviate the distress for the caller in crisis and then improve their overall experience accessing care by actively connecting them or scheduling the services they need to better manage the crisis and their condition long-term,” said Wendy Farmer, Beacon’s crisis leader, adding that “we believe this approach can help decrease the strain on Emergency Rooms and law enforcement.” Beacon uses coordinated system technology and trained intake specialists and licensed clinicians to take callers through the initial 1-800 line and later the 988 line to help de-escalate the crisis if possible and quickly connect the callers to the services they need. She said Beacon’s data-informed crisis system provides information it can share with communities to have a better understanding of where there are gaps in services, which services are more available than others and crises drivers. Then, working with community collaboratives, that data can be used to plan for how to better address the drivers of crisis and ensure New Hampshire residents in need have a responsive and well-organized safety net prepared to serve them in their hour of need.