Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro, NH

Pros

• Dr. Dutson is heaven-sent, and the staff epitomize professionalism and customer service.
• The ER and OR teams are friendly, knowledgeable, and deliver excellent care.
• The orthopedics team, including Dr. Hogan, provides outstanding care and is highly recommended.
• The imaging team, especially Katie, is amazing—personable, thorough, and reassuring.
• The care and compassion shown by the medical professionals at Huggins are second to none.
• The nursing staff are attentive, professional, and genuinely caring.
• The treadmill stress-test team (Tina, Andrew, Dr. Boornazian, Judy) offered fantastic encouragement and support.
• Dr. Pollack is awesome, thorough, and patient-centered; patients feel heard and cared for.
• Dr. Orr and his ED team are consummate professionals who truly care about the patient.
• The hospital café and food service staff provide excellent food and courteous service.
• The Huggins team saved lives by promptly starting IV antibiotics and arranging necessary transfers.
• Across imaging to admission, the care staff demonstrated a level of professionalism and kindness that stood out.

Cons

• The reviewer claims Huggins Hospital treated them poorly in the ER and even tried suing them for over $15,000.
• They describe the hospital as a total joke that dismisses major issues to get people in and out.
• The ER staff are accused of being rude, ignoring patient requests, and overriding patient autonomy.
• The ER front desk is called heartless, condescending, and unwilling to help.
• The hospital is described as not safe and prone to neglect.
• There are claims of serious delays in care and unsafe handling, including a death linked to delayed care.
• Mental health care at Huggins is described as a joke, with patients not being taken seriously.
• Billing is described as deceptive, leading to debt and credit harm.
• The hospital is accused of releasing private information without consent.
• Intake and records transfer are criticized as inefficient with poor follow-through.

Review

Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro, NH, is best suited for local families seeking immediate, hands-on emergency care and solid surgical options close to home. The community excels when a patient needs rapid access to a 24/7 emergency department, dependable orthopedic and general surgery, and a coordinated pathway to larger centers for specialized care. In favorable moments, the hospital fielded highly skilled surgeons and an earnest, capable OR team who deliver clear explanations, careful pre- and post-operative care, and responsive support through recovery. For residents who prize proximity, predictable admit/discharge routines, and the comfort of familiar staff, Huggins can be a pragmatic, life-saving choice. The CAH designation reinforces the ability to handle a wide range of medical scenarios while maintaining an alignment with regional referrals, which matters when a case requires transfer to a higher-level facility. When the right specialists are on duty and communication is tight, outcomes feel incidentally reassuring.

Those who may want to consider alternatives are precisely the families most concerned with consistency, transparency, and patient-centered service. Several reviews describe inconsistent bedside manner, front-desk curtseys, and a choppier customer-service experience that undermines trust during stressful moments. Long ER waits, delays before imaging, and fragmented billing processes recur as themes, sometimes culminating in disputed charges or unclear ROI reminders. For patients with complex, ongoing needs requiring a broad subspecialist roster, cardiology, oncology, neurology, or seamless continuity of records, a larger regional center or a university-affiliated hospital may offer a more predictable care pathway. Mental health and high-acuity cases also appear more fragile in the narrative, suggesting that families should scrutinize the hospital’s ability to coordinate comprehensive care beyond the ER when long-term management is essential.

The strongest positives anchor the decision: a cadre of capable surgeons and a track record of dependable orthopedic care, reinforced by competent perioperative teams. Dr. Dutson and Dr. Hogan consistently surface as patient-centered, education-minded surgeons who empower their patients with clear explanations and steady reassurance. The orthopedics program often yields favorable outcomes, with smooth surgical experiences and attentive postoperative care that promotes confidence in recovery. In imaging and diagnostics, professional staff, such as Debby Taylor in radiology, are repeatedly praised for their courteous, thorough handling of tests, which reduces anxiety and speeds the path to treatment. In favorable ER shifts, clinicians like knowledgeable PAs and caring nurses deliver explanations that are both compassionate and precise, contributing to a sense of safety during frightening events. The hospital’s ability to connect with other centers for specialty care remains a meaningful safeguard for families facing complex needs.

Yet the main cons run through many reviews with notable severity: experiences vary widely, and inconsistency is the most cited risk. A sizable number of patients recount encounters with rude front-desk staff, abrupt communication, and long hold times that leave families feeling neglected at moments of crisis. There are repeated reports of extended waits in the ER before seeing a doctor or receiving definitive imaging results, sometimes accompanied by concerns about misdiagnosis or perceived hurried assessments. Administrative processes, billing, ROI forms, and the transfer of medical records, appear disjointed in enough cases to warrant careful planning and proactive follow-up. When a patient’s life or pain is in the balance, these gaps translate into real stress, securing the perception that care quality hinges on the luck of the shift or the particular clinician on duty. The most troubling narratives involve serious patient harms or near-miss experiences, underscoring the need for vigilance and escalation channels.

Balancing the positives and negatives requires a practical, preemptive strategy. Families choosing Huggins should actively confirm surgeon availability and scope well in advance, request direct contact with a patient-relations manager, and secure clear cost estimates upfront. Proactively tracking test results, ensuring receipts of imaging reports, and setting explicit expectations for wait times can prevent a sense of being “left in the dark.” For those who must navigate discharge planning, rehabilitation pathways, and follow-up care, assigning a point person, whether a family member or a care manager, helps keep communications tight and accountable. The hospital’s strengths, local access to skilled orthopedic and ER care, plus a safety net for transfers, can be leveraged to expedite meaningful interventions, provided the administrative friction is addressed with clear questions and timely escalations.

In the end, Huggins Hospital functions as a practical, locally anchored option for urgent care, surgery, and inpatient services, especially for families prioritizing proximity, direct access to general and orthopedic surgery, and a working relationship with a hospital that can refer out when necessary. It is less reliable as a default for families who demand uniformly exceptional bedside manners, flawless intake processes, and completely transparent, turnkey billing. Regions beyond Wolfeboro offer alternatives that may deliver more consistent administrative and subspecialist support, which matters for chronic or complex conditions that require steady, predictable systems. The strongest care moments here happen when the right clinicians are aligned with precise, well-communicated plans; the weakest, when administrative and interpersonal gaps overshadow clinical competence. Weighing local access and concrete surgical strengths against the risk of variable service and billing friction, families should enter enrollment with explicit questions, documented expectations, and a clear plan to escalate concerns if needs are not being met.

Hospitals

• Huggins Hospital (0 miles)
• Thomas Lynn (0.5 miles)
• Lakes Region General Hospital North 2/Cardiac (13.7 miles)

Physicians

• Orthopedic Surgeons (0.1 miles)
• Wolfeboro Family Medicine (0.1 miles)
• Internal Medicine Of Wolfeboro (0.1 miles)
• Wolfeboro Pediatrics (0.1 miles)
• Adult & Pediatric Dermatology, PC (1.7 miles)
• Rust Pond Family Medicine (1.9 miles)
• White Mountain Medical Center (8.2 miles)

Places of Worship

• Grace Point Church (0.3 miles)
• Wakefield Church of Nazarene (8.3 miles)
• The Episcopal Church of St John the Baptist (8.7 miles)
• Community Church Of Alton (8.8 miles)
• Sumitomo Machinery Corporation Of America (10.8 miles)
• Nute Ridge Bible Chapel Parsonage (13.1 miles)
• St André Bessette Parish (13.5 miles)

Parks

• Foss Field (0.4 miles)
• Guy Foss Memorial Recreation Area (0.5 miles)
• Wentworth State Park (3.8 miles)

Pharmacies

• Care Pharmacy (0.4 miles)
• Walgreens (0.6 miles)
• Walgreens (9.5 miles)
• Walmart Pharmacy (12 miles)
• Hannaford Pharmacy (12.3 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (12.4 miles)
• Rite Aid (13.6 miles)

Restaurants

• Wolfgang's Pizza Subs & More (0.4 miles)
• Burnt Timber Tavern (0.5 miles)
• Downtown Grille Cafe (0.6 miles)
• Wolfeboro Dockside Grille & Dairy Bar (0.6 miles)
• Wolfeboro Dockside Grille (0.6 miles)
• Garwoods Restaurant (0.7 miles)
• Bayside Grill & Tavern (0.8 miles)

Cafes

• North Main Cafe (0.7 miles)
• Tumbledown Cafe (8.9 miles)
• Nina's Coffee on Wheels (9.1 miles)
• Winnepesaukee Bay Gulls 2 (10.1 miles)
• Wayfarer Coffee Lakeport (13.3 miles)
• Aroma Joe's Coffee (13.5 miles)

Transportation

• B18 Alton Bay Ice Runway (7.8 miles)

Theaters

• Weirs Beach Drive-In Theater (13.1 miles)