Sentara adds Albemarle Health in North Carolina to its system

Norfolk-based Sentara Healthcare will add Elizabeth City, N.C.-based Albemarle Health to its growing list of regional health-care providers outside of its Hampton Roads base.

The Pasquotank County (N.C.) Board of Commissioners and the Albemarle Hospital Authority Board of Commissioners has approved a long-term lease agreement with Sentara that takes effect on Saturday.

“Choosing the right partner was critical in ensuring the highest level of health care for our community today and in years to come,” Mary Ann Keyes, chair of the Albemarle Hospital Authority, said in a statement. “We are proud that after two years of hard work, we were able to partner with Sentara Healthcare and look forward to the positive changes and progress ahead.”  

Albemarle Health is the largest regional health and wellness provider in northeastern North Carolina.

Its facilities include: Albemarle Hospital, a medical center in Elizabeth City; Regional Medical Center in Kitty Hawk, which houses an outpatient surgery center, laboratory, diagnostic imaging services and medical offices; Regional Oncology Center, a cancer treatment facility on the Albemarle Hospital campus; and the Albemarle Health Sleep Center in Elizabeth City.

Sentara CEO David L. Bernd said Sentara “will place a strong focus on improving the community’s access to primary care, managing chronic disease and improving the services and programs available locally.

“Sentara appreciates the trust placed in us and together we will be good stewards of this shared community asset,” Bernd added. “The local community will see positive change in the future given initiatives coming from our focus on implementing new models of care to improve the health of individuals and populations.”

Sentara is a 125-year-old nonprofit health system with 11 hospitals in Virginia. It also has four medical groups, a health plan (Optima Health), a medical staff of 3,800 providers plus outpatient, urgent-care, advanced- imaging, rehab, nursing and assisted living centers.

Sentara added Halifax Regional Health System in South Boston to its expanding system last year. In recent years, hospitals and health-care systems in Harrisonburg, Charlottesville and Woodbridge also have joined Sentara.

Sentara named Kenneth W. Wood as interim president of Albemarle Health, effective Saturday.

Wood has served as CEO of four teaching hospitals, a health-care system and a community hospital. He most recently served for 12 years as president and CEO of Blue Ridge Healthcare in Morganton, N.C., which is affiliated with Carolinas Healthcare System.