New Hanover Regional Medical Center was named the Health Care Organization of the Month by the Studer Group for February.
The award goes to health care organizations that achieve sustained improvements in several areas. The areas include patient satisfaction scores, operating margins, employee turnover and employee ownership of new ideas.

“This is a wonderful acknowledgement of the hard work of every employee to make sure that we are delivering the highest quality care every single day,” Jack Barto, NHRMC chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.

Organizations are nominated for the award by the Studer Group, a private, for-profit healthcare consulting firm. A committee within Studer reviews all nominations and makes a selection.

“Every month, Studer Group honors an organization that stands out from its peers and serves as a premier example of what is right in healthcare with a Health Care Organization of the Month award,” Autumn Morris of the Studer Group said in a prepared statement.

“It is evident that New Hanover Regional Medical Center has created a culture of clinical, service and operational excellence,” Morris added.

The Studer Group is a global company that partners with healthcare organizations to make the workplace better for employees and physicians to practice. The improvements, in turn make facilities such as New Hanover Regional Medical Center a preferred place for patients to receive care, company officials said.

Calabash Internal Medicine opens office in Supply

Calabash Internal Medicine recently opened an office in Supply. The office is located at 10 Doctor’s Circle, Suite 6, next to Brunswick Community Hospital.

Making the announcement recently were Dr. James Moreci and Dr. Peter Schottlander, who began seeing patients at the new location April 19. Calabash Internal Medicine’s main office is located at 9970 Beach Drive SW, Unit 1.

“Physicians and staff are excited to now extend services further into Brunswick County with an office in Supply,” Novant Health spokeswoman Amy Myers said in a prepared statement.

Moreci opened Calabash Internal Medicine in November 2008. In August 2010, Schottlander joined the practice. Both doctors are board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. They specialize solely in the treatment of adults, Myers said.

A graduate of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Ca., Moreci received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Schottlander completed his undergraduate degree at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. He received his medical degree from the New Jersey Medical School in Newark, N.J. He completed residencies at Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J., and Columbia University in New York City.

Moreci and Schottlander share more than 40 years of combined medical experience, Myers said.

“Both their Supply and Calabash offices offer a full range of primary care services to include adult and senior care, preventative healthcare, care for acute and ongoing illnesses, annual physical exams, routine lab tests and same-day sick appointments,” Myers said.

To make an appointment, call (910) 579-8363. For information, visit www.CalabashInternalMedicine.org.

Sexual Assault Response Team protocols signed

The Sexual Assault Response Team for New Hanover County completed new responder protocols that were signed April 15 at the Northeast Branch Public Library.

“The culmination of months of hard work by multiple agencies has resulted in a comprehensive and victim-centered approach to respond to sexual violence in our community,” Julie Ozier, a supervisor and counselor at the Rape Crisis Center of Coastal Horizons Center, Inc., said in a prepared statement.

Ben David, head of the District 5 District Attorney’s Office, which includes New Hanover and Pender counties, led off the signing, which takes place during Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month.

In conjunction with ChildWatch’s Annual Forum, Olga Trujillo – a survivor, attorney and national consultant – was guest speaker and presented a firsthand account of the impact of violence in her life and its effect on others.

The Rape Crisis Center of Coastal Horizons Center, Inc., is located at 615 Shipyard Blvd., Wilmington. For more information, call (910) 392-6936.

NHRMC Foundation hosts golf tournament

The New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation hosted its annual Coastal Classic Celebrity Golf Tournament April 29 and 30.
All proceeds from the event will go toward the purchase of a patient education system at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

Hospital spokeswoman Erin Balzotti said in a news release about the event that the patient education system “will deliver an enhanced hospital experience by offering televised health information, communications about the hospital and helpful information for families and caregivers, promoting a more interactive healing environment.

“This in-room access to health care information will reduce anxiety through education and entertainment programming and encourage patients to be more active in their care,” Balzotti said.

The event’s 2011 general chairman, Joe Bonczek, said the Coastal Classic has raised more than $2.2 million to support New Hanover Regional Medical Center over the years.

“This event supports New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s mission to provide the very best healthcare to our friends and families when we need it,” Bonczek said in a prepared statement.

The New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation, a nonprofit, fundraising affiliate of New Hanover Regional Medical Center, organizes the golf tournament. Previous tournaments raised money for projects that include the construction of the Betty H. Cameron Women’s & Children’s Hospital, exercise equipment in the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center and wireless technology at Cape Fear Hospital.

For more information about the event, visit www.nhrmcfoundation.org/coastalclassic.

Employee of Excellence named at NHRMC

New Hanover Regional Medical Center recently named health unit clerk Rosalind Lennon as the facility’s Employee of Excellence for the month of March.

Lennon’s positive attitude and proactive approach to her jobs are among the reasons she was selected by her peers, hospital officials said.

“Rosalind embodies the true meaning of caregiver. She walks the halls of the hospital each night shift she works with enthusiasm and a can-do attitude,” one colleague said in a hospital news release.

The Employee of Excellence program at New Hanover Regional Medical Center “is a way for the organization to acknowledge the
outstanding contributions of their employees,” according to hospital officials.
Employees are nominated and selected by their peers for high performance in four key areas: communication, compassion,
teamwork and ownership.