Find Great Health Care Close to Home in Elizabeth City, NC
The region offers innovative care powered by community.
Three community-minded health care organizations serve the Elizabeth City area. In addition to top-notch medical services, these providers extend their reach to help improve the health of the entire region.
In This Article
Chesapeake Regional
Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, in partnership with the Elizabeth City Area Chamber of Commerce, successfully hosted the second annual Bra-ha-ha, a bra decorating fundraiser.
Elisa Wills, chief development officer at Chesapeake Regional, says the event sold out for the second year in a row and raised over $20,000.
“The entire community came together in support of breast cancer awareness,” she says. “We couldn’t do it without our bra makers – all the individuals, groups and businesses that share their talents and dream up new works of art each year.”
These funds stay in Elizabeth City to help local patients, supporting eligible uninsured and underinsured community members by providing mammograms and related breast health services as well as advanced technology at Chesapeake Regional Breast Care – Elizabeth City.
“Chesapeake Regional Healthcare is proud to offer Elizabeth City high-quality breast care services, including screening and diagnostic mammograms and ultrasounds,” Wills says.
The health system also offers many other primary care and specialty services and supports employees of Elizabeth City with wellness and occupational health services.
“The Elizabeth City community is important to us,” Wills says. “When we consider expanding services, we think about how we can continue to offer this community the health care services they need and want.”
Sentara Health
In just its first two years, Sentara Health’s Sentara Cares program invested more than $1.8 million in over 70 community partnerships, like the teaching kitchen it supports with the Food Bank of the Albemarle and Pasquotank County Cooperative Extension Service.
Using items from the food pantry, the kitchen provides weekly nutrition education and cooking demonstrations to clients with diet-related illnesses.
Funding for Albemarle Hopeline’s Transitional Housing program helps provide housing for survivors of intimate partner violence. Sentara Cares supported a successful pilot program, which helped Hopeline secure, through a highly competitive process, a multiyear grant from the federal Office on Violence Against Women.
Sentara Cares continues to grow and evolve to meet the needs of the communities we serve,” says Sherry Norquist, Sentara Health’s executive director for corporate social responsibility. “We are taking great strides in our engagement with community leaders and local nonprofit organizations and continue to find ways to be more available and accessible to these community partners.
“It has been an honor working alongside so many dedicated individuals in the heart of our communities. Working together with these community leaders and organizations, we pursue a shared vision and commitment to improving the lives of the individuals we serve. Sentara Cares and their community partners are building a foundation today that will continue to serve our communities for generations to come.”
Education, Careers & Opportunity
Key to Elizabeth City’s Success? Collaboration
Here’s how local entities are working together to better the region.
ECU Health Chowan
Brian Harvill, president of ECU Health Chowan, says the organization supports numerous organizations that meet its mission by providing services related to health improvement, access to care, community education, research, economic development and community coalition building.
Harvill, along with Kelly Herr, marketing manager for ECU Health Chowan, serves on the Albemarle Area United Way (AAUW) board, where Herr has served as vice chair for the past three years.
“ECU Health Chowan supports many AAUW opportunities and participates in fundraising events like Bocce, Beer & Bites, which includes a competitive bocce ball tournament and food and beverages from local partners,” Herr says.
Harvill says student health care is a focus, as well.
“We support athletic training programs for several schools in this region and provide free athletic physicals for local students,” he says. “Dr. Bryan Bunn with ECU Health Family & Sports Medicine-Edenton serves as the medical director for local athletic training programs and has been an asset to our community and the health and well-being of student athletes.”
Harvill says extending the hospital’s reach into the community is important.
“Focusing on the overall health and well-being of the community means addressing not only immediate medical needs, but also the social, economic and environmental factors that impact health,” he says. “Working closely with community organizations and stakeholders enables ECU Health Chowan to collaborate on comprehensive health care and wellness initiatives, which can lead to innovative solutions to community health challenges.”
A Conversation With Teresa Watson
Livability recently chatted with Teresa Watson, president of the Sentara Albemarle Medical Center, about health care in Elizabeth City.
Teresa Watson
What drew you to Sentara Albemarle?
The warmth of the people here and the abundant opportunities for waterfront living. I grew up in a small town in North Carolina, then moved to a larger city – and I really enjoyed that experience – but was ready to go back to that special feeling of community you get in more rural areas. I’ve also always loved being on the water, so I jumped at the opportunity to come to SAMC.
What will the campus construction, including the replacement hospital opening in 2025, mean for the community?
This project is the most significant investment in health care in this region since the current hospital was built over 60 years ago. This $200 million project is a big deal for our community. It not only introduces a new, patient-centered facility with innovative technology, but also leverages our local talent by using contractors from the area to help build it. It’s truly a hospital for our community built by our community. It will improve the experience for our patients.
How do you hope to engage with your new community?
Community engagement is very important to me, and I’d like to think I’ve hit the ground running since moving here. I plan to get engaged with various community groups, but I also love getting to know the faces of our community individually.
What makes you most proud of Sentara?
How much heart I see put into what our team does every day. From the team making sure our rooms are clean to the team keeping us fed to the clinicians working directly with our patients, our team really cares about the people we serve.
Anything else you’d like folks to know?
I think Sentara’s overall investment in this community is important to note. In addition to the $200 million economic impact of the new campus, we’re also investing in addressing social determinants of health through local Sentara Cares partnerships.
Get to Know Elizabeth City
Want to learn more about living and working in Elizabeth City? Check out the latest edition of Livability Elizabeth City, North Carolina.