Murphy Medical Center Selects Carolinas HealthCare to Manage Organization

Murphy, NC – Murphy Medical Center, located in Murphy, NC, and Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS), headquartered in Charlotte, NC, jointly announced today that they are entering into a management services agreement effective Friday, July 1, 2011.

As a result of the agreement, CHS will manage Murphy Medical Center and provide services related to quality, technology, research and education, strategic planning and operational efficiency.

Murphy Medical Center is a 57-bed acute care hospital, drawing patients primarily from Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties, and includes a 134-bed nursing home; a large, multi-specialty physician practice; home health and hospice services; rehabilitation services; a fitness center; and an urgent care center.

“This new relationship with CHS will greatly benefit the communities we serve,” said Mike Stevenson, Chief Executive Officer of Murphy Medical Center. “Our hospital and facilities, with access to the comprehensive resources available through Carolinas HealthCare, will be in a much improved position to provide the best possible care to patients. We look forward to sharing best practices with one of the nation’s leading healthcare organizations.”

According to the terms of the new agreement, Murphy Medical Center will continue to be governed by its current board. CHS will manage day-to-day operations, with Stevenson and other key executives – including the chief operating officer, chief financial officer and chief nursing officer – becoming CHS employees and reporting to CHS Regional Group Executive Vice President Larry Hinsdale. The Murphy Medical Center Foundation will retain its current structure, mission and board leadership.

Laurence C. (Larry) Hinsdale, Executive Vice President-Regional Group for CHS, said “We look forward to working with the physicians and staff of Murphy Medical Center for our mutual benefit and to enhance the existing foundation of excellent healthcare in the communities served by Murphy Medical Center.” 

Hinsdale noted that the relationship will allow CHS to support the strategic goals of Murphy Medical Center through planning, operational and financial oversight. He added that this includes working together to provide assistance with physician recruitment, educational efforts and improvements in infrastructure, such as information technology.

The Murphy Medical Center Board of Directors formally voted to approve the agreement at a meeting on May 25.

“The focus of this agreement is to maintain and enhance access to local health services while maintaining  the local governance of the community's hospital,” said John Carringer, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “This was a carefully considered decision that provides patients in our region with the best of both worlds, a community hospital dedicated to our citizens and the resources of the largest healthcare system in the Southeast.”

Joseph G. Piemont, President and Chief Operating Officer for CHS, said “I appreciate the fact that the hospital’s board and staff have placed such a solid vote of confidence in Carolinas HealthCare System. We look forward to being actively involved in the community.”

About Murphy Medical Center
Established in 1979, Murphy Medical Center is a 501(c)(3), private, not-for-profit healthcare organization in Murphy, NC, providing high-quality, patient-centered care to the residents in far west North Carolina and north Georgia.  The organization includes a 57-bed, Joint Commission-accredited, acute-care hospital;  134-bed nursing home, including a 14-bed Alzheimer’s Unit; Murphy Group Practice, a four-specialty physician practice; Good Shepherd Home Health and Hospice;  Peachtree Athletic & Rehabilitation Center, a fitness center and physical, occupational and speech therapy site; and an Urgent Care Center.  For more information contact: Murphy Medical Center Community Relations, 828-835-7506.

About Carolinas HealthCare System
Carolinas HealthCare System (www.carolinashealthcare.org), one of the leading healthcare organizations in the Southeast, includes more than 30 affiliated hospitals in North and South Carolina.  CHS provides a lifetime medical home to patients through a network of some 600 care locations that includes hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, physician practices, surgical and rehabilitation centers, home health agencies, nursing homes and other facilities.  These operations comprise more than 1,700 employed physicians, 6,300 licensed beds and 48,000 employees.  For more information during business hours contact: CHS Public Relations, 704-355-3141. (After hours call 704-355-2000 and ask for the public relations officer on call.)