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Heartfelt Stories – A Lifeline of Care: How MCH’s Mobile Health Team Went Above and Beyond for Sam

An older man, seated comfortably in a recliner, smiling as he is attended to by a healthcare professional. The healthcare worker, dressed in blue scrubs, is using a stethoscope to listen to the man's chest. The setting is a cozy living room with framed family photos on the wall behind them
Heartfelt Stories - A Lifeline of Care: How MCH's Mobile Health Team Went Above and Beyond for Sam
Delivering Compassionate Healthcare at Home

Heartfelt Stories

At Monadnock Community Hospital, we are proud to share our Heartfelt Stories featuring inspiring testimonials from our patients, employees, volunteers, donors, and community members. Each story reflects the exceptional care, support, and compassion that define our commitment to our community. Join us in celebrating these remarkable journeys and the difference compassionate care can make.

Sam Zachos may be the most positive person you’ll ever meet. He was born in Bennington ninety years ago and has lived through war, depressions, and more than one pandemic. He’s been a bank director, mill worker, union president, hospital volunteer, and he served 38 years in the National Guard.

Through it all, he’s maintained his optimistic outlook. Sam and his beloved late-wife Linny raised four children, all of whom were born at and received care through Monadnock Community Hospital. “MCH has always been our hospital for primary care, for emergencies—for everything,” says Sam.

When he started not feeling well in the fall of 2021, he knew who to call. His nurse at Monadnock Internal Medicine explained to him that with the increasing number of COVID cases, taking a trip to the Emergency Department for his symptoms could potentially cause greater harm than good. Being at a higher risk for becoming seriously ill with COVID, his medical team presented a safer way to treat Sam.

“It wasn’t safe for me to go to the hospital, so, instead, MCH came to me,” says Sam. “They have great paramedics and a van with all the equipment for testing and diagnosing. One of the pararmedics, Josh, examined me and was able to take blood work right here in my home. He then worked quickly with my doctor to have a prescription called in, and within a few hours I started the medication and began
feeling like a whole new person.”

MCH’s Mobile Integrated Health Care team is filling a critical need in the community by providing medical services outside hospital walls. Coordinating with a patient’s primary care physician, our paramedics provide a host of diagnostic services, including physical assessments and specimen collections.

“The MCH Mobile Integrated Health Program was a godsend for me during the pandemic.” Sam Zachos, Peterborough, NH

“We can provide up to six calls a day, assessing, testing, and treating vulnerable patients who may be housebound, frail, or otherwise unable to travel,” says Josh Patrick, Mobile Integrated Health Paramedic. “While there are a few other hospitals in the state providing services like these, MCH has one of the most comprehensive programs, offering an array of services to a diverse population.”

Most importantly, MCH is able to deliver medical excellence to vulnerable patients in the safety and comfort of their homes.

“I always had great respect for MCH, but this program has exceeded my expectations,” Sam says. “I was a volunteer there for ten years and met so many wonderful people who have continued to make me feel appreciated and loved. I am very grateful that, although I can no longer travel easily, I can still be connected to my caregivers—now they can even come to me!”

A group of seven healthcare professionals, dressed in various professional attire, standing in front of Monadnock Community Hospital. The group is positioned outdoors with the hospital building visible in the background. The text above them reads, 'We Are All In This Together.' At the bottom of the image, the Monadnock Community Hospital logo is displayed along with the caption, '2022 Report to Our Community

MCH 2022 Annual Report

Mobile Integrated Healthcare