Novant Health recently has announced new medical office locations that are either now open or in the works, expanding the health systems presence in Brunswick County.

Novant, whose main hospital facility Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center is in central Brunswick County in Bolivia, earlier this month announced the opening of its new medical office building in the southern part of the county.

Located at the corner of Highway 17 and Persimmon Road in Carolina Shores, the new Novant Health South Brunswick Medical Plaza offers primary care, specialty care and imaging services.

“We are excited our presence is growing in southern Brunswick County. We want to make the health care experience simpler and more convenient for local residents, and this new medical plaza helps achieve that,” Shelbourn Stevens, president of Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center, said in a news release.

The medical plaza at 75 Emerson Bay Road in Carolina Shores houses several practices.

Novant Health Internal Medicine Calabash moved Feb. 29 to Novant Health South Brunswick Medical Plaza. It will have a new name: Novant Health Family and Internal Medicine South Brunswick.

Novant Health Surgical Associates opened March 9. Its Sunset Beach location moved to Carolina Shores.

Novant Health OB/GYN also opened on March 9. Its Sunset Beach location moved to Carolina Sores

Imaging services available at the medical plaza include MRI, screening mammograms and X-ray.

A community open house will be held 4-6 p.m. April 5.

Novant officials also recently announced it plans to open a family medicine clinic at Pine Forest Plantation, a new mixed-use development. 

The partners involved in creating Pine Forest Plantation have submitted plans to the town of Oak Island for the community’s first construction project, a primary care Novant Health medical office building, according to a news release.

Previously called The Charles when it was first announced in 2014, Pine Forest Plantation is expected to also include commercial and residential phases on a 2,114-acre site at the intersection of Midway Road and N.C. 211.

The owners of the land, Tommy Sofield and Robert Gurkin of Equity Investment Associates, are working with Davis Moore Capital and Legacy Community Partners on the 10,000-square-foot Novant Health facility, the release stated.

Developers envision the Novant building to represent the first of many medical service providers in a planned 50-acre health and wellness medical campus, according to the news release.

“That was our goal from the get-go, to land a really good anchor tenant,” said Chris Maynor of Legacy Community Partners, referring to Novant.

For Pine Forest Plantation, the new medical building is also considered a first step toward a phased development that will offer a variety of housing types in a progressive care retirement community that is planned, in addition to health care, to include shopping, dining and recreation options, the release said.

“The alliance [with Novant] paves the way for access to needed wellness services and opens the door to other complimentary medical service providers, commercial interests, and those seeking residential homes in the near future,” Maynor said in the release.

Developers anticipate breaking ground on the medical building this spring, with expectations that it will be operational in late 2017, according to Austin Koon of Davis Moore Capital.

For large planned communities like Pine Forest Plantation, close access to medical facilities is considered an amenity and a draw for potential residents.

“One of our goals is to make the healthcare experience simpler and more convenient, and we know this new location will be an asset to those who live in and around this unique community,” Stevens said in the news release.

The family medicine clinic is scheduled to open in late 2017. Equity Investment Associates LLC, Davis Moore Capital LLC and Legacy Community Partners LLC are partnering together in the initial development of Pine Forest Plantation.

- Reporter Cece Nunn contributed to this item.