Southeastern Nephrology Associates (SENA), which has five offices in the Wilmington area, has merged with Greenville-based Eastern Nephrology Associates (ENA), allowing the combined practice to provide more services to Eastern North Carolina, officials said Friday.

The new organization will now operate as Eastern Nephrology Associates, according to a news release.

The merger, which went into effect June 1, includes 27 physician partners, four associate physicians and 14 advanced practitioners, stated the release.

"We are excited to join together with our SENA colleagues,” Carney Taylor, co-president of ENA, said in the release. “The merger helps to ensure that our kidney care patients will continue to be supported by a strong and vibrant independent physician practice. We are all committed to delivering high quality and cost-effective care options.”

The merger allows SENA patients to have more access to services, some previously not available to them, Taylor said.

"We have some services that we offer at ENA that over time, we hope to expand to Wilmington and southeastern North Carolina," Taylor said. "We are growing our home therapy dialysis and ENA has two vascular access centers for dialysis patients. That service doesn’t exist in SENA."

SENA, which will change its name to ENA, has been servicing Southeastern North Carolina since 1975 and provides nephrology services, which relate to kidney health, including dialysis, that helps with kidney failure, transplants and hypertension care, according to its website.

"This is an exciting opportunity to join with colleagues who share our common values regarding treating patients," said John Heroin, ENA co-president, in the release.

SENA has an office in Wilmington at 1302 Medical Center Drive and in Jacksonville, Whiteville, Supply and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as well as 13 dialysis centers in the region.

SENA currently has 12 nephrologists, a nurse practitioner and also provides consultative care at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Onslow Memorial Hospital, Columbus Regional Healthcare System and Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center.

All current employees at both practices will retain their positions, Taylor said.

"One of the things that we collectively discovered in preparation for the merger," he said, "was that the primary mission of both groups, and the merged group will be to provide the most cutting edge kidney-related care possible with a focus on compassion and quality outcomes for our patients."