More than 300 people attended the second annual “Charting the Course: Southeastern North Carolina Home Health Care Awards Reception,” held November 5 at the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

The event also marked November as official Home Care and Hospice Month, organizers said. More than 300 guests from the medical and business communities of southeastern North Carolina attended.

“Charting the Course gathers the region’s medical professionals from the entire health care spectrum in an effort to encourage collaboration and camaraderie amongst community health providers,” said J.L. Hunt, PA, of Griffin Estep.

Those recognized by their peers included Michelle Coleman, of Community Home Care and Hospice; Janice Williams of Well Care Home Health; Donna Harned, of New Hanover Regional Medical Center Home Care; and Mary Clarke of Lower Cape Fear Hospice and Life Care Center.

Coleman, Williams, Harned and Clarke received the Beacon Award for Leadership Excellence in Home Care and Hospice, organizers said.

The Horizon Award for Lifetime Achievement in Home Care and Hospice was presented to Ellen Cameron of Lower Cape Fear Hospice and Life Care Center, and Cassandra Taylor of Well Care Home Health.

Intracoastal Internal Medicine received the Compass Award for Medical Practice of the Year.

The award for Volunteer Caregiver of the Year went to Poletha Wilson of Wilmington.

U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre joined Wayne Long, CEO of Well Care Home Health Care, in presenting the awards.

New specialist joins SEAHEC Division of Geriatrics

Wilmington-based University Physicians, a service of the South East Area Health Education Center, recently announced the addition of Mark E. Williams to its Division of Geriatrics.

Williams joined SEAHEC from the Department of Medicine at the University of Virginia, where he served as the Ward K. Ensminger Distinguished Professor of Geriatric Medicine since 1999, a news release said. He will continue his role educating physicians as a faculty member with the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Residency Program.

Williams has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles about clinical diagnosis and treatment of elderly people and is also the author of such books as the American Geriatrics Society’s “Complete Guide to Aging & Health” and “Geriatric Physical Diagnosis: A Guide to Observation and Assessment.”

Country music group Gloriana performs at Children’s Hospital

The country music group Gloriana put on a show for children at the Betty H. Cameron Women’s & Children’s Hospital earlier this month.

The November 7 show was a fundraiser for the non-profit group Chords for a Cause, which donated concert proceeds to support the hospital, spokeswoman Erin Balzotti said.

With the support of donors, the hospital will use proceeds from the concert to purchase specially-designed teddy bear wagons and colorful duck IV poles “that can cheerfully go with the pediatric patients as they move from their rooms to therapy or the playroom,” Balzotti said.

Gloriana has a gold-certified hit single, “Wild at Heart” and recently won the fan vote for “Best Breakthrough Artist” at the Amercian Music Awards.

Group founders, Tom and Mike Gossin attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, so the concert was a homecoming of sorts for them, Balzotti said.

The group performed an acoustic concert in the first floor balcony of the Women’s & Children’s Hospital.

University Physicians announce new doctor hire

University Physicians, a service of South East Area Health Education Center (SEAHEC), recently announced the addition of Dr. W. Borden Hooks, III to its Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Hooks completed his residency at New Hanover Regional Medical Center and his Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery Fellowship at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.

With the addition of Hooks to the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, University Physicians now has two fellowship-trained surgeons specializing in minimally invasive procedures, SEAHEC officials said.

Also referred to as laparoscopic surgery, minimally invasive surgery does not require a large incision. Many times, recovery time is shortened significantly and patient outcomes are improved.

Hooks’ interest lies in basic and advanced laparoscopic surgery, weight loss procedures including bariatric and metabolic surgery, open and laparoscopic herniorrhaphy, endoscopy and trauma surgery.

In addition to seeing patients at University Physicians, Hooks will also join the teaching faculty of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Residency Program.

Hooks is board certified by the American Board of Surgery. He is a candidate member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and a member of the American Hernia Society.

New physician assistant joins Atlantic Urology

A new physician assistant recently joined the Atlantic Urology – New Hanover Regional Medical Center Physician Group practice.
Margaret Fleishman, PA-C, is one of the only female urology providers in the area, medical group officials said.

Fleishman completed her undergraduate work at Appalachian State University and received her master’s in Physician Assistant Studies from East Carolina University.

Most recently, she worked as a staff urology physician assistant at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

Atlantic Urology is accepting new patients and is located at 1606 Physicians Drive, Suite 102, in Wilmington.

The practice offers treatments for many common urologic conditions including bladder tumors, erectile dysfunction, enlarged prostate, and kidney stones.

Coastal Horizons Center elects new officers

The Board of Trustees of Coastal Horizons Center recently elected officers for the 2011-12 fiscal year.

The officers are Howard Loving, chairman; Beth Quinn, vice-chairman;  Clyde Stunson, secretary; and Bill Ginna, treasurer.

Coastal Horizons Center, Inc. is a local private non-profit agency that promotes choices for healthier lives and safer communities by providing a range of professional services for prevention, crisis intervention, sexual assault victims, criminal justice alternatives, and treatment of substance use and mental health disorders.

Coastal Horizons Center is the largest private, non-profit human services agency headquartered in Wilmington and serves the 52 counties of Eastern North Carolina.