Pender Memorial Hospital’s new chief of staff is prepared to meet the challenges facing the Burgaw medical facility.

Dr. Larry Dashow said one issue common to thousands of hospitals across the country is adjusting to the faltering economy.

Another priority for Dashow is continuing the work of the entire staff to change the public perception of the hospital, which has served the county and region since 1951. He wants area residents to know they can depend on Pender Memorial.

“They’ll stay here as long as we can provide them with the quality care that we can do here,” he said. “For a long time, Pender was not known as a quality place.”

Dashow, a general surgeon, was recently elected by the members of the Pender Memorial Hospital medical staff to serve a two-year term as chief of staff, from Feb. 1 through Jan. 31, 2011.

Dashow wears many hats in the new position, which carries “significant responsibilities,” he said.

Those responsibilities include overseeing the entire medical staff, keeping up with hospital bylaws, coordinating with administrators and helping the hospital improve the level of patent care.

“Plus meetings,” he added.

Dashow, 53, received a medical doctorate from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and completed his residency and surgical fellowship at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. He was a general surgeon for 12 years in the Philadelphia area before moving to North Carolina in 2003 to open his practice in Burgaw.

Dashow appreciates the quality of life the area offers, along with the welcoming nature of Pender County’s citizens.

“It’s a small community feel,” he said. “They appreciate you being here. The whole area is beautiful, but I think the people are what makes the county so nice.”

As chief of staff, Dashow does all he can to get the word out about the services offered at Pender Memorial Hospital. He enjoys getting out in the community and speaking to civic groups and visiting senior centers.

Many people don’t know they can receive services at Pender Memorial like mammograms, diabetes care, blood pressure monitoring and X-rays.

“A lot of that was reputation and a lot of that has changed over the last 5 years. The new administration wants to keep advertising and pushing us forward,” Dashow said.

Dashow compared average waiting times at the Pender Memorial emergency room to the one at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. He said the ER wait at New Hanover Regional can take up to three times as long as the one at Pender Memorial.

“We can see a patient much quicker,” he said. “People think, ‘Why am I going over to New Hanover when I can get the services done easier, quicker and cheaper in Pender.’”

Dashow said many services available at Pender Memorial Hospital are exactly what the patient would receive at a larger hospital in a bigger city.

“Most stuff doesn’t need university-(level) care,” Dashow said. “That’s where the community hospital is the savior for everybody.”

As a community hospital, Pender Memorial is feeling the impact of the economic downturn across the nation. Healthcare facilities are not immune, he said.

“People don’t have insurance or want to pay for the elective things they need. They don’t want to pay for medications,” Dashow said. “It makes it worse at a small community hospital. Financially, everybody is struggling.” 

Dashow hopes to expand the reach of Pender Memorial Hospital throughout and beyond Pender County. A five-year goal would be realized if 30 percent of Pender County’s residents took advantage of services offered there, he said.