North Brunswick County residents no longer have to make their way across the Cape Fear River into Wilmington to receive medical services. With more professional offices opening in the area, a trip to the doctor or dentist is often a convenient, short drive away.

That particularly applies to residents of The Villages at Brunswick Forest. In April 2010, New Hanover Regional Medical Center opened a 40,000-square-foot health and diagnostic services medical complex in the 160-acre, self-contained community off U.S. 17 in Leland.

BlueWave Dentistry, a full-service dental clinic, also recently opened in Brunswick Forest.

Not to be outdone, Brunswick Community Hospital operator Novant Health is also making inroads into the county’s northern section.

The health system’s new hospital, Brunswick Novant Medical Center, will open this summer.

‘Easy access’

The New Hanover Regional Medical Center Health & Diagnostics facility at Brunswick Forest “offers easy access to primary care and specialty physicians,” hospital officials said, in addition to laboratory, imaging and diagnostic services.

“The Brunswick community has really embraced us,” said Audrey Wright, site manager for Morgan Internal Medicine, a member of the NHRMC Physician group located in Brunswick Forest.

Dr. Alan Morgan and his physician assistant, Eric Carter, “have become part of the neighborhood, helping patients prevent disease and manage acute and chronic medical issues, from cardiac and pulmonary disease to diabetes and hypertension,” Wright said.
NHRMC Physician Group has two urologists, doctors Roc McCarthy and Robert Bennett, who see patients in Brunswick Forest.

Meeting North Brunswick residents’ health care needs closer to home is a key component of the NHRMC strategy, hospital spokeswoman Erin Balzotti said.

North Brunswick residents have benefitted from the Brunswick Forest facility, said Noel Rhodes, New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s director of radiology.

“Residents in the Brunswick Forest area now have more convenient access to the trusted services of New Hanover Regional Medical Center,” Rhodes said. Those services include diagnostic and imaging services, including MRI, CT scans, digital mammography, ultrasound, bone density scans and X-rays.

Area residents asked for lab services at NHRMC Health & Diagnostics-Brunswick Forest, “so we are planning to add those services in the coming weeks,” Rhodes said.

NHRMC Health & Diagnostics-Brunswick Forest performs about 155 procedures every day, Balzotti said. That number does not include patients treated at Morgan Internal Medicine-NHRMC Physician Group, Urology Comprehensive Services-NHRMC Physician Group, Atlantic Orthopedics or Wilmington Health Associates.

Novant a player

Novant Health also has a presence in the North Brunswick medical scene. Health system spokeswoman Amy Myers said several doctors practicing in the North Brunswick area are also on the Brunswick Community Hospital staff.

The Novant Medical Group, which is the hospital’s affiliated medical group, currently has board-certified physicians specializing in orthopedic surgery, obstetrics and gynecology and family medicine with offices in the North Brunswick area.

Brunswick Community Hospital has also extended several community outreach programs to the North Brunswick area, Myers said.

The new Brunswick Novant Medical Center is the replacement facility for Brunswick Community Hospital. The hospital, off U.S. 17 three miles north of the current hospital, will include 74 acute care beds, 14 more beds than the current hospital and an additional operating room.

“Remember, more than 8,000 local residents signed letters of support that were sent to the state to help show support for this new hospital in Brunswick County,” Meyers said.

‘Strategy of growth’

“Novant’s strategy of growth fits in well with projected population increases in the North Brunswick area, as developments and commercial businesses locate there.

Novant Health’s Brunswick County medical staff has grown from about 100 doctors in 2006 to 180 now, she said.

Myers said Novant Medical Group’s Brunswick County presence has grown from four doctors in 2006, when Brunswick Community Hospital joined Novant, to 38 physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners.

The Villages at Brunswick Forest will eventually include more than 500,000 square feet of retail and professional buildings within walking or biking distance of the development.

Convenience and comprehensive medical services will help make the North Brunswick area more attractive to residents, Fisher said.
“It all hinges on the fact they don’t want to drive across the river because of the traffic,” she said.