Wilmington Industrial Development is changing its name. Effective immediately, officials announced March 2, WID will be known as Wilmington Business Development.

The idea of a name change has been under consideration for several years, said Scott Satterfield, the organization’s CEO. “We’ve known for some time that we needed a name that is a more accurate depiction of 21st century economics and the manner in which today’s companies compete, grow and succeed,” he said in a release.

The Internet as a major source of information was also a factor in the name decision, said Wilmington Business Development board chairman Bill King, in the release.

“Today many site searches begin on the Internet, placing a premium on the ability of a community and its economic development program to rank prominently in Internet keyword searches,” he explains. “That’s why it is so important that our organization’s name resonate in the lexicon of modern business,” he was quoted as saying.

Wilmington Industrial Development was formed in 1956. It promotes economic diversification, small business development and the creation of sustainable jobs in New Hanover and Pender counties. While the group has formal ties with county and municipal governments in its service area, it relies on private-sector participation, leadership and funding to drive its mission.  

According to the organization’s release, it has recruited large local employers like Verizon, L L Building Products and Corning, and it has worked to facilitate expansions at GE Nuclear and Fortron.

Hospital earns high marks

New Hanover Regional Medical Center is in the pink when it comes to successful patient outcomes, according to an article in the March 2012 issue of Business North Carolina.

The article, “Buy the Numbers,” points to the emergence of value-based health care, which means that, under the provisions of health care reform, hospitals increasingly will be paid for how successfully they treat patients, not necessarily how often they treat them.

Accompanying the story are two “top hospital” ratings. The first, which considered data from various sources on factors that contribute to healthy outcomes for patients, shows that New Hanover Regional Medical Center ranked fourth in the state.

The second listing, “Patient Picks,” is taken from a patient survey conducted by the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. Researchers asked patients who had an overnight or longer stay if they would recommend the hospital. Factors to be considered ranged from their own health outcome to the hospital’s cleanliness and noise level. Among the 26 North Carolina hospitals that ranked highest on this survey, NCRMC tied for fourth with an 82 percent rating.

The highest-ranked North Carolina hospitals achieved an 83 percent rating.

According to Jack Barto, CEO of NHRMC, these high rankings are the result of the center’s focus on exceptional care that began seven years ago. At that time, soon after his arrival, the NHRMC identified five “pillars” that are key to providing excellence in care: people, services, finances, growth and quality. Since then, it has measured outcomes, he said.

“We are making certain that we are getting predictable outcomes,” he explained, adding that, while health care reform is heading in the direction of reimbursing hospitals for quality of care rather than patient volume,  “We’re driving this (initiative at NHRMC) based on what we think is the right thing to do for our community.”

Another factor in the medical center’s success in improving patient outcomes, Barto said, is the depth and breadth of medical talent in the Wilmington area.

“You don’t find that in other communities our size. We provide comprehensive care, within a supportive medical community, with specialists who are highly skilled and trained,” he said. “We are blessed to have that.”

The article also mentioned that Blue Cross and Blue Shield has recognized NHRMC for its expertise in bariatric surgery and that U.S. News & World Report lists the medical center in its list of “standout hospitals” that perform more than the national norm in various specialties. NHRMC is mentioned in the gastroenterology and orthopedics categories.