MRH observes 80th year
Two men who figured prominently in the
development of FirstHealth Moore Regional
Hospital joined the current CEO of FirstHealth
of the Carolinas on Nov. 30, 2009, to mark the
hospital’s 80th anniversary.
 Former hospital Administrator Crenshaw Thompson
and John Monroe, M.D., helped FirstHealth CEO Charles
T. Frock cut a ceremonial cake noting the hospital’s eight
decades of service to the mid-Carolinas. The
hospital, then known as Moore County Hospital,
opened on Thanksgiving Day 1929 as a 33-bed,
four-bassinet facility.
Thompson served as the hospital’s
administrator for 15 years, overseeing—
among numerous accomplishments—the
creation of what is now the Foundation of
FirstHealth. Dr. Monroe served the community
for many years as an ear, nose and throat
specialist with Pinehurst Surgical. His uncle, the late
Clement R. Monroe, M.D., was the hospital’s first chief
surgeon and administrator.
Back to Top
FirstHealth of the Carolinas gets OK to build hospital in Hoke County
The North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulation
has approved a Certificate of Need request from
FirstHealth of the Carolinas to build a hospital in Hoke
County.
“FirstHealth made a commitment to serve Hoke County many
years ago,” says FirstHealth CEO Charles T. Frock. “Building a new
hospital in the county is a continuation of that commitment.”
The FirstHealth Hoke Hospital, to be constructed on Highway
401, will house a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week emergency
room staffed by Pinehurst-based physicians from Moore Regional
Hospital. In addition to the emergency beds, the hospital will
include eight inpatient beds, an overnight observation unit
and one operating room, full laboratory services, state-of-theart
imaging technology, diagnostic cardiology, and critical care
transport or helicopter transport options.
With initial construction that will allow for additional
expansion, future plans for the 30-acre medical complex site
include an ambulatory surgery center, medical office space, and
other health care-related services and facilities.
“A hometown hospital strengthens the sense of community,”
says long-time Hoke County resident and Moore Regional
Hospital Board Chair Julian King. “I am so pleased at the decision
to have FirstHealth bring Moore Regional Hospital quality health
care to Hoke County.”
Back to Top
"Pinehurst Walks!" and children benefit
At Pinehurst Elementary School, Wednesdays are known as “Walking
Wednesdays” when students, parents, grandparents and others gather at Cannon
Park and then take a .30-mile walk to school with the “Walking School Bus.”
The “Walking School Bus” and “Walking Wednesdays” are part of a program
called “Pinehurst Walks!,” a community effort that promotes physical activity and
safety by encouraging children to walk or bicycle to school.
Original funding to develop a greenway trail linking Pinehurst Elementary to
Cannon Park came from a Fit Community grant from the N.C. Health & Wellness
Trust Fund to a “Pinehurst Walks!” partnership made up of Pinehurst Elementary,
the Pinehurst Parks and Recreation Department and FirstHealth of the Carolinas.
Funding to develop the following enhancements to safe walking/biking routes
came from a variety of other sources:
- A sidewalk along Gun Club Road that connects Highway 211 to Spring Lake
Drive—funded through a Childhood Obesity Prevention Demonstration Project
(COPDP) grant
- A greenway trail connecting the new sidewalk to the trail to Pinehurst
Elementary—also funded through the COPDP grant
- A fitness trail in front of Pinehurst Elementary that links to the greenway trail—
funded by a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant
Back to Top
Veteran physician loses cancer battle
The FirstHealth of the Carolinas family
joined the Richmond County community
in mourning the death of Elaine W.
Huffman, M.D., on Dec. 13, 2009.
A veteran family medicine physician,
Dr. Huffman had battled a rare blood
cancer for more than two years, but
continued to work until shortly before
her death.
“She was a fantastic physician, a
compassionate individual and doctor,
and she took great care of her patients
and many of my friends and family,”
said John Stevenson, a retired Richmond
County radiologist and a member of the
FirstHealth Board of Directors.
Back to Top
Demolition
68,000 square feet
3 buildings
Mass excavation
30,000 cubic yards
3,000 truck loads
Excavation refill
10,000 cubic yards
1,000 truck loads
New construction
5 stories
186,000 square feet
5,400 yards of concrete
750 tons of steel
Construction start date
April 27, 2009
Anticipated occupancy
Winter 2010/2011
See related story
Back to Top
FHC initiative focuses on prostate cancer
A new focus on prostate cancer has emerged from a variety
of FirstHealth of the Carolinas activities funded by the
Moore Regional Hospital Foundation through a grant
from the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Started in 1993 to
honor the late N.C. State men’s basketball coach Jim Valvano, the
V Foundation gives 100 percent of all new direct cash donations
to cancer research and related programs.
During 2009, the $50,000 V Foundation grant to FirstHealth
funded a prostate cancer awareness program; 475 free prostate
cancer screenings in Moore, Montgomery, Richmond, Hoke and Lee
counties; a Prostate Cancer Needs Assessment Survey; and a series of
focus groups about local survivorship and education efforts.
The new FirstHealth initiative coming out of those events will
focus on a comprehensive program to educate men who have
been diagnosed with prostate cancer about what they need
to know about their disease and the wide range of treatment
options that are available to them. A third component will
involve a mentoring program that pairs prostate cancer survivors
with newly diagnosed patients.
“We need to develop a better sense of bonding with prostate
cancer,” says Rae Williams, administrative director of FirstHealth
Medical Practice Management. “People have bonded with breast
cancer—pink ribbons are all over. We need more recognition,
more interest, more support and more early detection for
prostate cancer. We want equal opportunity for prostate cancer
and the men at risk.”
Back to Top
New internal medicine practice opens in Richmond County
Lauren Alter, M.D. |
Lauren Alter, M.D., is the first physician to begin seeing patients in the new
FirstHealth Richmond Medical Group–Internal Medicine in Richmond County.
Located in the recently constructed FirstHealth Richmond Medical Plaza at 809 Long Drive in
Rockingham, the practice is currently accepting new internal medicine patients.
Dr. Alter earned her medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
in Newark, where she also completed her residency in internal medicine. She was owner and CEO of
a medical practice in Westville, N.J., before joining the Richmond Medical Group office.
Back to Top
Former FHC Board chair named to state Board of Transportation
David Burns |
North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue has appointed David Burns, former chair of the FirstHealth
of the Carolinas Board of Directors, to serve on the state Board of Transportation.
A Laurinburg resident, Burns serves as the Transportation Board’s representative for
District 8, which covers Scotland, Chatham, Hoke, Lee, Moore, Montgomery, Randolph and
Richmond counties. A longtime executive with Z.V. Pate, a Scotland County management services
firm, he recently retired as the company’s president and CEO and now serves as chairman of its board.
Burns also has a long history of community service. In addition to his role with FirstHealth of
the Carolinas, he has chaired the Cotton Council International, the Scotland County Board of
Commissioners, the Laurinburg/Scotland County Area Chamber of Commerce and Scotia Village. He is
immediate past chair and a current member of the First Bancorp Board of Directors, and he currently
heads the Board of Trustees for St. Andrews Presbyterian College.
Back to Top
Dental Care Centers get funds to extend hours, check BMI levels
 A grant from the North Carolina Health & Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF) has allowed the staff
of the FirstHealth Dental Care Centers to extend clinic hours while also educating their
young patients about the risks of being overweight or obese.
The three-year, $180,000 grant was one of seven awards made to health care
organizations throughout the state through the HWTF’s $2 million Oral Health Initiative. The aim is
to increase access to treatment and preventive services for underserved, high-need populations, and
to train dental and other health care providers to better serve those populations.
In addition to offering extended hours at the Dental Care Centers in Southern Pines, Troy and
Raeford, the professionals at the three clinics have begun to collect Body Mass Index ( weight in
relation to height) information on their patients and then referring children who are found to have
weight issues to available local resources. Clinic providers work closely with both FirstHealth’s Diabetes
Self-Management Program and the Montgomery County School Health Centers, as well as with local
medical professionals, to provide assistance.
| For more information on any of
the items in FHC Happenings,
call (800) 213-3284. |
During their 11 years of operation, the FirstHealth Dental Care Centers have provided care to more
than 19,000 low-income children.
Back to Top
|
