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Cape Fear Health and Medical Care
Regardless of the type(s) of medical care you and your family require, rest assured that your needs will be met by the many highly qualified practitioners in Wilmington and its surrounding counties.
To help patients maintain their optimum health, Wilmington Internal Medicine “promot[es] excellent care and provid[es] educational resources to help you be your own self-advocate. As specialists in the prevention of type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease, we pride ourselves on offering our patients the most advanced diagnostic tools available. Our goal is to detect any health problem as early as possible and help you keep it manageable – so you can enjoy a long, healthy life to its fullest!”
Some of the diagnostics utilized by Wilmington Internal Medicine are EKGs, Halter monitors and treadmill testing. And with blood work done in-house by Spectrum Laboratory-certified phlebotomists, you can be assured that you will receive your test results as soon as they become available.
From routine annual exams to extensive treatments, Wilmington Health Associates (WHA) is the area’s largest, most comprehensive provider of healthcare in Southeastern North Carolina. Wilmington Health Associates enables easy access to its network of specialists through its family medicine satellite offices in Brunswick County, Carolina Beach, Porter’s Neck and central Wilmington.
As Alysa Bostick, director of Physician Relations and Marketing, explained, “With an assemblance of 72 board-certified physicians with 13 specialties, we are able to provide our patients with exceptional care. Our quality providers are linked together through electronic medical records, enabling them to share one-another’s notes and findings. This ensures that your important medical history is available immediately, without delay.”
When you walk through the doors of WHA, you can expect to be treated by a trained team of physicians dedicated to providing quality care for you and your family. “Our physicians are the recipients of ongoing articles and awards,” Bostick said. “Dr. Paul Kamitsuka was just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Richard Trotta was just published in a national medical journal and Dr. Michael Parker received a ‘top doctor’ award from a state medical magazine. In addition, Dr. Christian deBeck, a urologist, pioneered robotics surgery for this area.”
Some of WHA’s specialties include cardiology, dermatology, neurology, pulmonology, urology, and infectious disease. On-site services (not available at all locations) include but are not limited to laboratory, diagnostic testing, pharmacy, mammography, and audiology. WHA is also expanding its services to include Convenient Care in December of 2008.
For those requiring inpatient or outpatient hospital services, New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties all offer exceptional facilities that combine the latest in technology with unparalleled patient care. In fact, Wilmington’s New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC) was listed as a 2008/2009 Consumer Choice Award recipient out of hospitals throughout the U.S. as having the highest quality and image.
NHRMC remains committed to cancer treatment, securing status as a Teaching Hospital Cancer Program — only 25 percent of hospitals throughout the country share this designation. The hospital has also earned the prestigious Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence by meeting or exceeding rigorous standards of care and professional performance, thereby attracting and retaining the best professional staff.
New Hanover Regional Medical Center has opened two new facilities in 2008 to better meet the current and future needs of area residents. The first is the Surgical Pavilion that features 26 operating rooms large enough to accommodate advanced laparascopic procedures and the latest in minimally invasive surgery. The pavilion also offers 76 private surgical prep and recovery rooms and 24 post-anesthesia care beds.
The second is the Betty H. Cameron Women's and Children's Hospital. Nearly 4,000 babies are born at New Hanover Regional Medical Center each year and now they can immediately receive the most technologically advanced care should complications arise. The spacious labor and delivery rooms allow plenty of room for family members to provide support and encouragement in a peaceful setting. And should the need for a Cesarean birth arise, three designated operating rooms are just down the hall.
Premature babies have immediate access to perinatologists and neonatologists, and a neonatal intensive care unit is well equipped and staffed to handle even the most fragile newborns. The unit is also one of the few in the state with all private rooms.
The Women’s and Children’s Hospital is comprised of more than just delivery rooms, however. For women requiring hospitalization for gynecological concerns, the Women’s Unit offers privacy and a healing environment with compassionate care and specialists trained to handle complex cases. Also, children no longer need to travel to other hospitals throughout North Carolina to receive the critical care they require.
New Hanover Health Network (NHHN) oversees NHRMC, as well as two other area hospitals: Cape Fear Hospital in Wilmington and Pender Memorial Hospital in Burgaw. Cape Fear Hospital serves as NHHN’s home of orthopedic services, but also offers a 24-hour emergency department, inpatient and outpatient surgery, endoscopy, respiratory therapy, rehabilitation medicine, radiology services and laboratory services.
Pender Memorial Hospital is an 86-bed, not-for-profit, community hospital. It offers all private rooms, inpatient and outpatient surgery and endoscopy in a new 2-OR surgery center, 24-hour emergency department and comprehensive imaging and lab testing. Additional services include physical, occupational and speech therapies; respiratory therapy 24 hours a day; a skilled nursing facility with short-term rehab and long-term care available; Pender Home Health agency serving an eight-county radius; and Pender Health & Diagnostics with comprehensive imaging and rehabilitation.
Located in the quaint, seaside community of Southport, Dosher Memorial Hospital is overseen by a publicly elected Board of Trustees and generously supported by a volunteer force of nearly 200, making Dosher unique in the state of North Carolina.
This 100-bed community hospital offers many of the same services as its larger counterparts in Wilmington and Myrtle Beach — cardiopulmonary and respiratory therapy, diagnostic imaging, emergency services, surgical services and procedures, and much more. Dosher is proud to combine such cutting-edge technology with efficient, patient-focused care.
Further south in Brunswick County along Highway 17 sits Brunswick Community Hospital. In addition to the specialties you would expect from a full-service hospital — critical care units, emergency services, maternity, surgical services — Brunswick Community also offers some of the newest technology available, such as digital mammography.
“Research has shown that digital mammography may be more accurate in screening three types of women; those under age 50, women of any age with very dense or extremely dense breast tissue, and pre- or perimenopausal women,” said Dr. Michael McCullough, radiologist at Brunswick Community Hospital.
Additional improvements are on the horizon for Brunswick Community Hospital. A new 74-bed replacement hospital with all private rooms is currently being constructed, with completion expected in 2010.
According to the hospital’s Web site, “Brunswick County is the fifth-fastest growing county in North Carolina with a growth of 21 percent between 2000 and 2005. This growth is predicted to continue with a growth rate above 19.4 percent predicted for the years 2010 to 2020. The replacement hospital will be designed to expand so that it's appropriate not only for the current decade but also for the next 30 years and beyond.” The new hospital, to be named Brunswick Novant Medical Center, will also utilize electronic patient medical records, thereby eliminating the traditional paper charts and record-keeping system.
Rounding out the healthcare options for the tri-county residents are numerous specialists in private practice. Because many families relocate to southeastern N.C., a number of highly qualified pediatricians and pediatric dentists have established practices in the region. And of course, the mild climate and exceptional golf courses attract vast numbers of retirees to the area as well, prompting a myriad assortment of medical services geared toward seniors. For individuals and families who require special needs assistance, many organizations, equipment suppliers and support groups are also here to assist you. So no matter your healthcare needs, the lower Cape Fear Region has you covered.
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