FirstHealth Adds Pediatric Care to FirstHealth Neurosurgery
| Date Posted: 10/31/2013
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| Scott Wentworth Elton, M.D., |
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| Gretchen Lee Delametter, CPNP |
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| Melody Ann Watral, CPON, CPNP |
PINEHURST – FirstHealth of the Carolinas has expanded its neurosurgical collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with the addition of pediatric neurosurgical services to its Pinehurst neurosurgical office.
Scott Wentworth Elton, M.D., a pediatric neurosurgeon, and pediatric nurse practitioners Gretchen Lee Delametter, CPNP, and Melody Ann Watral, CPON, CPNP, are now available to see patients for first and follow-up appointments at FirstHealth Neurosurgery. The office is currently located in the Pinehurst Surgical building at 5 FirstVillage Drive, Pinehurst, but will move to 10 Aviemore Drive, Pinehurst, in early January 2014.
Like Dr. Elton and the two nurse practitioners, the four adult practice neurosurgeons who currently staff FirstHealth’s Pinehurst neurosurgery office – Carol Wadon, M.A.; Bruce Jaufman, M.D.; Larry Van Carson, M.D.; and Charles Haworth, M.D. – are also UNC faculty members.
“We are very happy to collaborate with UNC-Chapel Hill to offer this unique service to the area,” says John F. Krahnert Jr., M.D., chief medical officer for FirstHealth of the Carolinas. “Pediatric neurosurgery is a medical specialization that is rarely offered outside large hospitals or medical teaching institutions, so we regard the availability of this service in Pinehurst as a benefit to young patients and their families who previously had to travel considerable distances for their initial and follow-up neurosurgical care. This is a wonderful addition not only to Moore County but also to the surrounding communities.”
Dr. Elton received a B.A. degree from Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.; and an M.S. degree from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., before earning his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
He completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in neurosurgery at Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, and a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham.
Board certified in both neurosurgery and pediatric neurosurgery, Dr. Elton is currently a clinical professor and director of Pediatric Neurosurgery in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Pediatric nurse practitioner Gretchen Lee Delametter, R.N., MSN, CPNP-AC, earned an associate degree in nursing from Alvin Community College in Alvin, Texas, a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Texas Woman’s University in Denton and a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
A member of the Association of Child Neurology Nurses, she is a pediatric acute care nurse practitioner/clinical instructor of pediatric neurosurgery in the Department of Surgery/Division of Neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Melody Ann Watral, CPNP, CPON, is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner and a certified pediatric oncology nurse. She earned a B.S. degree in biology from Pacific University and a B.S. degree in nursing from the University of Miami in Florida before receiving a master’s degree in nursing and a post-master’s certificate, pediatric nurse practitioner, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
She did a post-master’s fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Texas Children’s Hospital. A Fellow of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates and Practitioners, she is a pediatric acute care nurse practitioner/clinical instructor of pediatric neurosurgery in the Department of Surgery/Division of Neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
To make an appointment with the pediatric neurosurgery providers at FirstHealth Neurosurgery in Pinehurst, please call (919) 843-4609.
