Brunswick Novant Medical Center will change its name to Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center as part of a “strategic plan to unify all facilities in the system under an umbrella name,” hospital officials recently said.

The brand rollout begins April 17.

This year, the Winston-Salem-based hospital system “will unite its four-state footprint by executing a strategic branding plan to tie together the multiple, distributed points of care across the region,” Brunswick Novant spokeswoman Amy Myers said in a recent news release.

Brunswick Novant Medical Center opened in July 2011, with the hospital moving out of an older facility nearby. Novant Health took over operation of the former Brunswick Community Hospital in 2006.

Novant Health was formed in 1997 and has grown from four to 13 acute care facilities, more than 100 outpatient facilities and more than 350 physician practice facilities in four states.

Along with the brand launch, the system will adopt a new logo that will be incorporated at Novant Health facilities throughout 2013.

Additionally, facility names will change to align to the brand strategy. All 13 hospitals will adopt the brand name Novant Health, along with a facility locator.

“Over the past 15 years, Novant Health has grown into a sizeable regional health system,” Carl Armato, president and CEO of Novant Health, said in the news release.

“In 2013, we will formally join our system under one brand to better serve our communities and bring efficiencies to our operations. Together, our employees and physician partners will unify to create an unmatched health care experience for our patients.”

Shelbourn Stevens, Brunswick Novant president, said in the news release that uniting all of the Novant Health facilities under one name “will be a great asset to our community.”

“Novant Health is a strong system, and by working together, we will be able to share best practices and leverage experiences from our other hospitals and facilities. Our mission is to provide a remarkable patient experience, and this change can only help us further this effort,” Stevens said.

The organization also implemented employee engagement strategies as a part of the branding plan. In a first ever system wide employee leader meeting in February, nearly 1,000 Novant Health leaders met in Charlotte to be trained on the strategic plan.

“Locally, I know that what our community will first recognize will be a new visual look for our hospital,” Stevens said.

“This is much more than a logo change though. It is the next step in our journey to make health care remarkable.”

NHRMC plans outpatient complex
New Hanover Regional Medical Center will build an outpatient cardiology facility on Physicians Drive, according to plans filed in late February with city development officials.

The complex is expected be developed in phases on 8.23 acres near the hospital.

The first phase will include the construction of a three-story, 62,300-square-foot medical building. Under the plan, a 17,000-square-foot hospitality house will also be built as part of the project to replace the hospital’s current hospitality house at 1612 Medical Center Drive.

The project designer is the Wilmington-based division of LS3P Associates and engineered by McKim & Creed, which also operates a Wilmington division.

LS3P officials recently told city officials that construction on the cardiology outpatient clinic could start this summer and take 11 months to finish.
Reporter J. Elias O’Neal contributed to this report.

UnitedHealthcare announces job expansion
UnitedHealthcare and Optum recently announced the creation of more than 1,000 new jobs in North Carolina.

The new jobs, nearly 600 of which remained to be filled in late February, include customer service representatives, claims processors, nurses and clinicians.

The jobs are in UnitedHealthcare’s health benefits business and Optum’s health services business. The majority of the newly created jobs are in the company’s Greensboro office.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. is based in Minnesota and is the largest U.S. health insurer. Its workforce in North Carolina currently exceeds 4,000.

The company serves almost 900,000 people in the state through a health care provider network of more than 130 hospitals and 20,000 physicians and other health care professionals. 

“North Carolina is creating new opportunities to improve the economy and bring dependable employment to the people who live here. Coupled with the state’s commitment to improving access to higher-quality health care for consumers, we believe this is a great community to continue expanding our business,” Garland Scott, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina, said in a recent announcement.

UnitedHealthcare serves more than 40 million people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group. Optum is part of UnitedHealth Group.

Dosher, partners offer discount prescription card
A new partnership between Dosher Memorial Hospital, Southport’s Walmart and Kerr Drug pharmacies, and health care technology company SUNRx, will make access to discounted prescription drugs available to eligible patients in the Smithville Township area.

Dosher Memorial is the first hospital in the state to partner with SUNRx on a discount prescription drug program of this type, hospital spokesman Kirk Singer said.

“The high cost of health care is of great concern to many people today, and no one is more impacted than those families with little or no health insurance coverage,” Singer said in a news release.

Lisa Narron, Dosher’s pharmacy director, said the new program would provide benefits for individuals who are uninsured or do not have prescription drug coverage as part of their insurance plan.

“Our new Dosher Cares prescription card program will allow uninsured individuals from the community to purchase prescription drugs at a discounted – often deeply discounted – rate, when they otherwise might not be able to afford their prescriptions,” Narron said.
Dosher is offering the discounted prescription drug program through the federal 340B program, which provides medications discounted at up to 60 percent below retail price through qualified community health care centers and hospitals.

SUNRx technology manages all aspects of the 340B program and reduces paperwork, thereby allowing hospital staff to focus on patients. Qualifying prescriptions must be written by a Dosher physician such as a hospitalist, in the emergency department or at Dosher Medical Associates.

Patients using the Dosher Cares program can present their prescription card to their pharmacist for the discounted prescription drugs. Patients can order their prescriptions at the Southport Walmart’s pharmacy, 1675 N. Howe St., beginning April 1. They can also order prescriptions at the Southport Kerr Drug, 1531 N. Howe St. 

For more information about the Dosher discount pharmacy program, call Narron at (910) 457-3835.