Page 10 - Mecklenburg_Medicine_July-August-2019

At the Hospitals
n Novant Health Huntersville Medical
Center opens new patient tower
Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center
has a new four-story, 60,000-square-foot patient
tower that includes 44 additional patient rooms,
two additional procedure rooms, an operating
room and renovations to several hospital areas.
With this $50-million expansion, Huntersville
Medical Center becomes a 139-bed hospital on
a 29-acre campus.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a
sharp rise in patient encounters due to the
tremendous growth of the Huntersville area,”
says Mike Riley, Novant Health Huntersville
Medical Center president and chief operating
officer. “We made this investment to not only
meet this demand and alleviate some capacity
issues, but also to ensure we’re able to deliver
the remarkable patient experience that our
community deserves.”
The expansion includes two new beds in
the existing intensive care unit, as well as two
new beds in the neonatal intensive care unit,
which increases the number of level 3 NICU
beds to four. Twenty-two of the 44 additional
rooms are designated labor-and-delivery
recovery rooms to help meet demand. In
2018, 1,734 babies were born at Huntersville
Medical Center, compared to 610 births in
2004, its first year of operation.
Huntersville Medical Center opened in
2004 as a 50-bed community hospital. The
medical center, at 10030 Gilead Road, has
expanded access to comprehensive services
in addition to several facility expansions over
the years. Equipped to treat complex heart
disorders in its state-of-the-art catheterization to leadership.
lab and provide compassionate, personalized
cancer care in its robust infusion center,
Huntersville Medical Center is positioned to
serve the growing Huntersville community
and its health care needs. Outpatient care
is available at more than 30 Novant Health
Medical Group clinic locations in Huntersville
and surrounding areas.
“I’m proud of Novant Health’s commitment
to ensuring our community has access to
quality state-of-the-art care, right here,
close to home,” says Riley. “This investment
10 | July/August 2019 • Mecklenburg Medicine
addresses our long-term sustainability and
ensures we’re able to grow in the specialty
areas our patients need.”
n Novant Health accepting applications
for community leadership program
Honoring the leadership of Martin Luther
King, Jr. and his service to others, Novant
Health is accepting applications for a unique
community leadership program called the
H: Drive Experience. The “H” represents
“hidden.” The program aims to identify less-
heard, high-potential leaders who are invested
and engaged in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg
community, but who may otherwise
lack access to leadership development
opportunities. This is the second year Novant
Health has offered this program.
“At Novant Health, diversity and inclusion
are part of our core values,” says Tanya
Blackmon, executive vice president and chief
diversity, inclusion and equity officer. “As
we enter our second year of the program, we
are proud to continue providing a leadership
development opportunity through the H:
Drive Experience that will further benefit our
diverse communities.”
Through a combination of core sessions,
leadership coaching, shared group
experiences, and interaction with business
and community leaders, participants will
clarify their sense of purpose, strengthen
their leadership voice and deepen their
commitment to serve. Further, they will
gain an understanding of change-activating
servant, intentional and adaptive leadership
styles alongside Dr. King’s practical approach
“I learned about the importance of
kinship,” explains Alexandra Arrington,
director of Community Impact for Justice
Initiatives, who participated in the H: Drive
Experience last year. “We really have to find
and become people others can walk with
to create and support community change
and this program puts you in the room with
vibrant and dedicated people looking to take
their leadership to the next level individually Center, the hospital achieved significant growth
and collectively.”
Dana Draa, visual impairment services
team coordinator for Hefner VA Healthcare
System, participated in the H: Drive
Experience last year and encourages
people passionate about their community
to apply to the program. “Our community,
as well as our humanity, more than likely
hangs in the balance of our ability to make
connections with others who do not look,
sound or think like we do,” says Draa. “This
program offers the opportunity for a person,
group and community to delve into difficult
conversations in a safe and supported way
in order to promote the positive changes we
need to see in our world.”
The ten-month program begins in August
and ends in June 2020. Participants are
asked to make a firm commitment to attend
the scheduled sessions and invest in their
personal development. To learn more about
the H: Drive Experience, visit mynovant.
com/hdrive.
H: Drive Experience participants will be
recognized during Opera Carolina’s opening
night performance of “I Dream,” presented by
Novant Health on April 25, 2020. “I Dream”
is a musical drama based on the life of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Questions about the
program can be directed to Arlene Ferebee at
aferebee@NovantHealth.org.
n Dari Caldwell named vice president of
Novant Health Foundation
Novant Health is pleased to announce Dari
Caldwell as vice president of the Novant Health
Foundation. Caldwell will focus
on fundraising in Rowan County
and beyond. For the past nine
years, Caldwell has served as
president and chief operating
officer of Novant Health Rowan
Dari Caldwell Medical Center.
During Caldwell’s tenure at Rowan Medical
and brought many needed services to the
community. Rowan Medical Center remains
fully accredited by The Joint Commission and
has earned some of the nation’s top honors
in quality care, including Stroke Center
certification, Chest Pain Center accreditation,
Baby-Friendly designation and more. The
hospital also became a Comprehensive Center
under the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
Accreditation and Quality Improvement
Program (MBSAQIP).
Gary Blabon, senior director of professional
and support services at Novant Health Rowan
Medical Center, will be named as the interim
president and chief operating officer of the Center.