New Hanover Regional Medical Center officials said Tuesday they are disappointed over a vote by county commissioners rejecting a proposed management contract with a large health care organization, but said the decision would not impact the quality of care at NHRMC.

On Monday, county commissioners voted to block NHRMC from entering into a management contract with Charlotte-based Carolinas HealthCare System. The vote was 4-1, with  Chairman Jonathan Barfield, who also sits on the NHRMC board, dissenting.

According to Martha Harlan, director of public relations and marketing for NHRMC, the proposed agreement would have had an immediate and long-lasting positive impact.

“Joining CHCS would have allowed us to collaborate on best practices with 33 other hospitals and more than 1,700 physicians,” Harlan said Tuesday. “This kind of cooperation would have helped us provide even more excellent care to our patients.”

Collaboration on best practices and day-to-day operational strategies weren’t the only benefit, according to Barfield.

“Carolinas Health is a large organization with a lot of buying power, so we would have been able to save based on the economy of scale,” Barfield said. “A deal could have saved NHRMC $18-20 million a year on supplies and other purchases alone.”

None of the four commissioners who voted against the proposed agreement could be reached for comment Tuesday. However, several of them said during Monday’s meeting they feared the management contract would have been the first step to a potential sale of the hospital.

Barfield and Harlan disputed that notion.

“My fellow commissioners voiced a couple of concerns and some felt that this was the first step toward selling the hospital, when in reality it would have put us in a more secure position as a result of our massive yearly savings,” Barfield said.

Harlan said the proposed contract would have had no impact on NHRMC’s ownership.

“A management agreement with CHCS wouldn’t have changed the way we did business. Patients and employees would have seen no negative impact to their services or employment terms,” said Harlan. “This deal was a management agreement, not a merger, not a lease or a sale.”

Harlan added that despite the rejection of the contract, NHRMC is in a strong position.

“We’re financially strong and our patient satisfaction scores are as high as they ever were,” she said. “Our CEO and board will maintain a proactive leadership stance with the same focus as before: providing quality care to our patients and being an asset to the community.”

Carolinas HealthCare System (CHCS) has a network of 33 affiliated hospitals across North and South Carolina, employing some 1,700 physicians and serving patients at more than 500 locations. CHCS facilities include physician practices, nursing homes, surgical and rehab centers and home health agencies among other facilities.

In southeastern North Carolina CHCS’s affiliate facilities include Columbus Regional Healthcare System, a 154-bed hospital in Whiteville.