Health Care

| HEALTH CARE | NHRMC forming community advisory group

BY VICKY JANOWSKI

As part of its acquisition by Novant Health, NHRMC is putting together an advisory council made up of community members from the tri-county area.

The Coastal Region Community Engagement Advisory Council is expected to have 25-30 members. The group will have individuals from the community as well as leaders from New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center and Pender Memorial Hospital.

Those community members are currently being invited, and the first meeting could take place in August, said Scott Whisnant, community engagement director for Novant Health’s coastal market.

The group, Whisnant said, is intended to “help guide us on how we interact with the community.”

“We will tell the community, through these representatives, ‘Here’s what we’re doing; here’s where we plan on going,’” he said, adding that the group will pull from a mix of fields such as housing, education and business; reflect diversity in membership; and include people from the three counties.

Creating this type of advisory group was an item included in Winston-Salem-based Novant Health’s offer to buy New Hanover Regional Medical Center, a deal that closed Feb. 1.

“It was one of the advancements that Novant brought when they came here. They do this in their other markets,” Whisnant said, adding that officials currently are on a – largely virtual – listening tour with area residents to get feedback on what they want to see from the health system and gaps that might exist.

“Novant has shown this first 100 [-plus] days … they’re very committed to community feedback,” he said.

Other community outreach projects since the deal closed included a clean-up at Creekwood Community Center, which closed temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project (shown above) entailed minor repairs to the building and boosting Wi-Fi access.

“That’s an example of the kind of thing I think the community will get used to Novant doing,” Whisnant said.

NHRMC and Novant officials recently highlighted other changes underway during the first 100 days since the sale’s close.

• Those include more students at the UNC School of Medicine’s Wilmington Campus. As part of Novant’s deal, the health system made an agreement with UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine to expand their longtime presence at NHRMC. The campus is expected by 2026 to host groups of 30 medical students.

“Since joining Novant Health, NHRMC recently welcomed 16 new students to its UNC School of Medicine’s Wilmington Campus. This is the largest cohort of students we have hosted since becoming a branch campus,” a recent news release stated. “Novant Health looks forward to continuing to expand the program to train more physicians in the future.” • Novant Health previously announced a $10 million gift from Michael Jordan to open two medical clinics in New Hanover County. The locations for those clinics, intended to bring services to those who are uninsured or underinsured, have not yet been announced, but are expected to be in the coming weeks, officials said. • NHRMC adopted the Novant Health financial assistance policy, increasing qualification for a full writeoff from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty level. That policy translates into an uninsured family of four with an annual income of $78,600 or less not receiving a medical bill. Another billing change, however, also has been the phasing out of NHRMC’s previous prompt-pay discount the hospital previously offered. • Novant Health implemented its $15 per hour healthy community wage to eligible NHRMC employees. • In mid-June, Novant Health and NHRMC plan to implement Viz.ai, a software platform using artificial intelligence to synchronize stroke care.

PHOTO C/O NHRMC Outside hospital walls: Hospital employees helped clean up Creekwood neighborhood’s community center, which had closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was one of several community projects NHRMC has undertaken recently.

Leapfrog Group awards area hospital safety scores

The Leapfrog Group recently gave Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center an A letter grade in its spring hospital safety grades. New Hanover Regional Medical Center received a B grade in the same report.

The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit that evaluates the safety and patient experience provided by hospitals across the country. The grades – from A to F – are assigned to U.S. hospitals “based on their ability to prevent errors, injuries, accidents and infections, and improve patient satisfaction,” according to a news release.

Novant Health, which now owns both local hospitals, said the data reflects the health system’s approach to care.

“Our physicians, nurses, advanced practice clinicians, pharmacists and clinical team members work together every day to reduce our hospital-associated infection rates to historic lows,” Eric Eskioglu, executive vice president and chief medical and scientific officer for Novant Health, said in the release. “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our teams remained committed to providing the highest quality of care while prioritizing safety for not only our patients, but for our team members.”

Hospice renames its Wilmington garden

Lower Cape Fear LifeCare recently held a dedication ceremony to formally name its Wilmington garden the John T. Dees, M.D. and Mrs. Jenny Dees Heritage Garden.

“Our garden is one with a purpose,” Gwen Whitely, the hospice group’s president and CEO, said in a news release. “Although the garden certainly is a place of beauty and offers comfort and solace to families and visitors at our adjacent hospice care center, the tributes and memorials within, given in honor and memory of a loved one, help ensure that anyone in our community who needs care receives it, regardless of their ability to pay.”

Jenny Dees left a legacy gift to the organization.

John Dees, a well-known Pender County physician who practiced in Burgaw for 40 years and served on the N.C. Medical Board, died in 2003.

A Veterans Memorial Garden also is being planned and designed as an addition to the space, Whitely said.