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Community Care Comes First in Elizabeth City

Elizabeth City’s long list of health care services is growing.

By Kevin Litwin on February 21, 2021

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Vidant Chowan Hospital

As soon as you step foot into Elizabeth City, many things become evident – it boasts beautiful scenery, friendly folks are everywhere and access to health care is one of its leading features.

Unlike communities that might only have a clinic or local doctor’s office, this region is home to Chesapeake Regional Healthcare and Sentara Albemarle Medical Center (SAMC) and Vidant Chowan Hospital in nearby Edenton – and services and treatments are expanding.

Elizabeth City NC
Elizabeth City / Nathan Lambrecht

Chesapeake Regional Healthcare

Since arriving in Elizabeth City more than a decade ago and opening The Sleep Center, this Virginia-based medical provider has been expanding, adding Chesapeake Regional Surgical Specialists and Chesapeake Regional Primary Care-Elizabeth City. Also under its umbrella is Chesapeake Regional Breast Care and the Advanced Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center.

Discover Elizabeth City

“We have always fit in well with more rural communities that have small town feels to them, such as Elizabeth City/Pasquotank County,” says Christine Hustedt, director of operations for Chesapeake Regional Medical Group. “That’s because, in places like Elizabeth City, patients have good relationships with their doctors and medical teams, seeing them at grocery stores, schools, churches, sporting events and so forth.”

Medical services provided in Elizabeth City attract patients from surrounding communities.

“We are planning for Chesapeake Regional to expand even more in Elizabeth City/Pasquotank County,” Hustedt says.

Courtesy of Sentara Albemarle Me

Sentara Albemarle Medical Center

Also serving Elizabeth City/Pasquotank County is SAMC, with 182 beds and a medical staff representing nearly 30 specialties. Services available include critical care, surgery, imaging, women’s care and cardiology, among others.

The medical center’s first floor is an outpatient Wound Healing Center that cares for patients with slow- and nonhealing wounds. The clinic also offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

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In November 2020, Sentara announced plans to build a new 110-bed hospital to replace the current 60-year-old SAMC on a 135-acre site bordered by Halstead Boulevard Extended and Thunder Road.

“We need to replace the current hospital with a modern one built for the future of healthcare in northeastern North Carolina,” says Dr. Phillip Jackson, president of SAMC. “… It is time to write the next chapter in the hospital’s proud history of service to this community.”

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Vidant Chowan Hospital

Vidant Chowan Hospital

Vidant Chowan Hospital not only offers an intensive care unit, a surgical center, an emergency department, and cancer care and bone density screening, but it is a certified Baby-Friendly birth facility.

That designation recognizes hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for breastfeeding mothers and their babies, says Kelly Herr, Vidant Chowan Hospital marketing manager.

Energy in Elizabeth City is On the Grid and Off the Charts

Vidant Chowan also offers services in specialties such as sports medicine, dermatology, pain management, behavioral health, geriatrics, sleep disorders, heart care, rehabilitation and allergies/ asthma. The hospital features a telemedicine link with the Brody School of Medicine East Carolina University to treat various complicated health care issues.

“Chowan County is the smallest North Carolina county in geographical size, with a population just over 14,000, yet Vidant Chowan provides a fully functioning, modern hospital, featuring specialties for people of essentially every age and health issue,” Herr says.

If you’d like to learn more about the Elizabeth City area, check out the latest edition of Livability: Elizabeth City, NC.

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