Although New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s board of trustees is in negotiations with Carolinas HealthCare to allow the Charlotte-based hospital giant to take over its day to day operations, no timeline has been set for a decision.

“We’ve looked at a draft contract,” said New Hanover County commissioner Chairman Jonathan Barfield, who sits on the NHRMC board of trustees. “What we’re deciding is if this is something that would be good for the county and good for the hospital.”

In an internal email sent to NHRMC on Thursday afternoon, CEO Jack Barto wrote, “You may hear that we are currently talking with Carolinas HealthCare System about entering into an affiliation agreement. It is just one option our Board of Trustees has been investigating as they look for ways to remain strong in the changing healthcare environment.”

“Without a doubt we are looking at other options,” Barfield said.

According to County Commissioner Rick Catlin, prior to any operational change, a joint board meeting between the NHRMC board and the New Hanover County Commissioners must be held, but as of now, that meeting has not been scheduled.

“With the Charlotte group, being that they are as large as they are, they have great purchasing power. It’s like the Walmart effect. They can get better prices for a larger number of hospitals than we can for one hospital,” Barfield said.

Carolinas HealthCare runs more than 33 hospitals in North and South Carolina. In 2009, its revenue was $5 billion. The company has 48,000 employees, 6,300 beds, 1,700 physicians and more than 600 locations that include offices, rehab facilities and home health agencies. The budgeted net operating revenue for 2010 was $6.2 billion.

“[NHRMC board of trustees] have decided that we would not entertain any collaboration that suggests sale, lease, merger, or acquisition. Governance and ownership will stay local. They also wouldn’t entertain an agreement that will result in layoffs or cuts to benefits and pension,” wrote Barto in the Thursday email.

“Very, very few employees would become Carolinas HealthCare employees,” Harlan said. Only Barto and a few on the senior management would begin to get paychecks from Carolinas HealthCare System. Everyone else remains a NHRMC employee. No layoffs are planned.

Under an agreement with Carolinas HealthCare, “the board would continue to oversee and Jack would continue to report to the board,” Harlan said.

Other details of an agreement with Carolinas HealthCare have not been fully explored, she said.

The prospect of partnering with one of the largest healthcare systems in the state has Harlan optimistic. “Imagine having access to the depth of clinical knowledge in that system,” she said.

However, the issue is not on the agenda for the board’s Feb. 22 meeting.

“There is no type of timeline in place. Until all the questions are answered we won’t consider a timeline,” Barfield said.