Siemers said Tuesday that Dosher is the only independent, critical access hospital in the state that is not managed or owned by a system and that the partnership is an innovative way they found to collaborate with another hospital in the area.

After-hour surgeries will be performed at Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center at 240 Hospital Drive in Bolivia. In 90 days, Novant surgeons Richard Scallion and J. Andrew Smith will start working with patients at Dosher Medical-General Surgery clinic.

“We are excited to partner with Dosher to help ensure patients are able to stay close to home for the high-quality surgical care they need,” Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center president Shelbourn Stevens said in the release. “Our surgeons opened an office in Southport several years ago and are looking forward to extending care to the community through this partnership with Dosher.”

Stevens said in an email that the partnership will expand care options for patients in the Southport-Oak Island area.

“As the two hospitals in Brunswick County, our leadership teams talk regularly and are always looking for ways to better serve our community and expand options for care,” he said.

Dosher Chief Medical Officer Brad Hilaman said in the release that the collaboration will expand the types of surgery Dosher provides which include "breast diagnostic and treatment as well as additional advanced laparoscopic procedures," which are advanced abdomen and pelvis operations using a small camera. 

Dosher Memorial Hospital is in Southport and operates various clinics in Brunswick County.

Novant Health, an integrated network of clinics, hospitals and outpatient facilities in the South, opened a free-standing outpatient endoscopy center in Supply earlier this year.