Prebyterian Huntersville will become Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center.

Presbyterian hospitals in Huntersville and Charlotte and other related health care facilities are getting a new name: Novant Health. The company announced the change Tuesday, saying it was uniting all its operations in four states under the same name.

The change means Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville will become Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center when the change takes effect beginning April 17.
Here’s the press release from Novant on Tuesday:

Feb. 26, 2013

Novant Health Announces Unified System Brand
Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville to become Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – Novant Health today announced a strategic plan to unify all facilities in the system under the umbrella name, Novant Health. In 2013, the system will unite its four-state footprint by executing a strategic branding plan to tie together the multiple, distributed points of care across the region and commits to its patients and communities to make healthcare remarkable. Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville will become Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center.

Formed in 1997, Novant Health has grown from four to 13 acute care facilities, more than 100 outpatient facilities and over 350 physician practice facilities in four states.

“Over the past 15 years, Novant Health has grown into a sizeable regional health system,” said Carl Armato, president and CEO of Novant Health. “In 2013, we will formally join our system under one brand to better serve our communities and bring efficiencies to our operations. Together, our employees and physician partners will unify to create an unmatched healthcare experience for our patients.”

The strategic branding plan ties to Novant Health’s commitment to reinvent the healthcare experience by making it more convenient, easier to access, and more affordable so patients can focus on getting better and staying healthy.

“This unification is a great win for our community,” said Tanya Blackmon, President of Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville. “Through the strength of our system, we will reach best practices faster and leverage learnings from our other facilities. Our goal is to provide a remarkable patient experience and this change only assists our efforts.”

Journey to remarkable healthcare

Over the past several years, Novant Health has initiated a series of strategic steps to transform the patient experience and deliver remarkable care. Beginning with the Codman Award-winning hand washing campaign in 2005, which focused on the safety of patients and invited them to have a voice in their care, the organization embarked on a concerted effort to create a remarkable patient experience.

Three years later, MRSA infections were down 63%, more than 3,000 hospitals around the world had emulated the program, and patients were clear that they had a voice in their care at Novant Health facilities. Since then, Novant Health has focused on transforming healthcare to create an experience that allows patients to focus on getting better and staying healthy.

More recently, since September 2010, Novant Health facilities have screened all admitted patients for type 2 diabetes. This “search and rescue” program has diagnosed nearly 5,000 people with previously undiagnosed diabetes.

Another step in this strategic plan includes open access for patients. Real-time online appointment scheduling, E-visits, and collaborative patient-clinician care are all part of the unified system strategy.

“We have made significant progress to transform healthcare, but the next, logical step in our journey is to tie our system together,” said Armato. “By unifying under the Novant Health brand, we are signaling to our patients and our communities that whether you seek care at a Novant Health facility in North or South Carolina—or Northern Virginia or Georgia—you should expect an unmatched experience including access when and where our patients want it at an affordable price. We want to make healthcare remarkable. That is our promise.”

The organization has also implemented employee engagement strategies as a part of the branding plan. In a first ever system-wide employee leader meeting in February, nearly 1,000 Novant Health leaders met in Charlotte, NC to be trained on the strategic plan.

Visual changes, new facility names

Along with the brand launch, the system will adopt a new logo. Signifying the strength of the Novant Health system, the new brand identity will be incorporated into Novant Health facilities throughout 2013.

Additionally, facility names will change to align to the brand strategy. All 13 hospital facilities will adopt the driving brand name, Novant Health, along with a facility locator.

“Our community will first notice a new visual look,” said Blackmon. “But it is important to note that this is more than a logo change. This is the next step in our efforts to make healthcare remarkable.”

For more information on the strategic changes, visit NovantHealth.org/remarkable. The brand roll-out begins April 17.

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Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline Gold Performance Achievement Award for non-referral hospitals. Presbyterian Hospital Matthews was also a recipient of the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline Silver Quality Achievement Award for referral hospitals.

The awards recognize Presbyterian’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients that effectively improves the survival and care of STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction) patients.

Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville and Presbyterian Hospital Matthews are two of only five referral hospitals nationwide to receive silver recognition. Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte is one of just 25 hospitals in the nation to receive the gold designation.

STEMI is the most serious type of heart attack affecting almost 250,000 annually. Unfortunately, a significant number don’t receive prompt reperfusion therapy, which is critical in restoring blood flow. Mission: Lifeline seeks to save lives by closing the gaps that separate STEMI patients from timely access to appropriate treatments. Mission: Lifeline is focusing on improving the system of care for these patients and at the same time improving care for all heart attack patients.

Hospitals involved in Mission: Lifeline strive to improve care in both acute treatment measures and discharge measures. Systems of care are developed that close the gap of timely access to appropriate, life-saving treatments. Before they are discharged, appropriate patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, aspirin, ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers in the hospital and receive smoking cessation counseling.

Hospitals that receive the Mission: Lifeline Achievement Gold Awards have demonstrated for 24 consecutive months that at least 85 percent of eligible STEMI patients (without contraindications) are treated within specific time frames upon entering the hospital and discharged following the American Heart Association’s recommended treatment guidelines. Silver Award winners have achieved the same level of treatment for at least 12 consecutive months.

“We have committed tremendous resources to ensure we offer our community integrated and comprehensive heart attack care that has been recognized nationally for quality measures,” said Jason Bernd, VP of Cardiac Services at Presbyterian Hospital. “These awards don’t just address what we have done with STEMI care, but also how well we have worked with our local EMS, our physicians and staff, which is what makes it challenging to achieve. We are pleased to be recognized three years in a row for our dedication and achievements in cardiac care.”

Presbyterian Hospitals in Charlotte, Matthews and Huntersville all have nationally accredited chest pain centers and are in the top 10 percent nationwide for heart attack care six years in a row. If you or a loved one suffers a heart attack, dial 9-1-1 immediately and ask to be taken to Presbyterian.

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