Press Release
Carteret General to Contract with Sentara Healthcare
June 22, 2009
MOREHEAD CITY, NC - After some initial discussions, Carteret General Hospital has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Sentara to contractually provide certain services aimed at improving clinical performance and cost savings.
Independent hospitals are facing increasing challenges to protect themselves against rising costs and decreasing reimbursements. These priorities led Carteret General Hospital to seek an industry leader to provide expertise that will enable Carteret to succeed. Specifically, the services to be provided by Sentara include:
- Quality
- Benchmark Carteret against Sentara’s nationally top-ranked quality hospitals, with a goal of improving their performance.
- Assess opportunities to enhance Carteret’s safety and error prevention practices.
- Corporate Services
- Evaluate Carteret’s approach to recruiting and retaining high quality employees and clinicians.
- Advise and assist with the planning and execution of the proposed Carteret Master Facility Plan.
- Supply Chain Management
- Identify supply cost savings opportunities through Sentara purchasing arrangements.
- Strategic Planning
- Assess and prioritize action steps for the successful completion of the Carteret strategic plan.
“Our overarching goal is to preserve quality healthcare for the residents of the community well into the future,” says Fred Odell, III, President and CEO of Carteret General Hospital. “We are also looking forward to the benefits that will come from the assistance of an organization with demonstrated expertise in these areas.”
Sentara, a not-for-profit health system based in Norfolk, Virginia, is widely recognized for its quality programs and innovative approach to meeting the health care needs of the communities it serves.
“We look forward to working with Carteret General Hospital, who shares our unwavering commitment to quality care,” Howard Kern, Sentara’s President and Chief Operating Officer.
The term of the contract is twelve months.
About Carteret
Carteret General Hospital is a not-for-profit 135-bed hospital, located in Morehead City, North Carolina. It offers a full range of acute care, diagnostic and outpatient services, and a long-term skilled nursing facility. It has 1,075 employees, including 278 registered nurses. It opened in 1967. For more information about Carteret, visit www.ccgh.org.
About Sentara
Sentara Healthcare is a not-for-profit, integrated delivery system serving more than two million residents in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Nationally recognized for quality and innovation, Sentara operates more than 100 care-giving sites, including 7 acute care hospitals, 9 advanced imaging centers, and 7 nursing and 3 assisted-living centers. Sentara also has a medical group comprised of more than 380 leading physicians. For more information about Sentara, visit www.sentara.com.