Enjoying Health and Happiness in Greenville, NC

ECU Health

A fast-growing cultural hub of North Carolina, Greenville-Pitt County offers residents several options when it comes to health care. Two of the area’s largest care providers are ECU Health Medical Center – the flagship hospital of ECU Health – and Physicians East. And at these facilities, you’ll find excellent doctors who provide passionate health care in Greenville and its surrounding commiunities.

With 974 licensed beds, ECU Health Medical Center serves as the teaching hospital for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. ECU Health provides acute, intermediate, rehabilitation and outpatient services to more than 1.4 million people in 29 counties in eastern North Carolina. 

In 2018, ECU Health Medical Center achieved Magnet recognition – often considered the gold standard of nursing excellence – designated by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. 

Nearby, Physicians East is a multispecialty, multicampus group of physicians offering a wide range of specialties. In addition to primary care, the practice offers pulmonary and critical care medicine, rheumatology, dermatology, oncology, endocrinology, cardiology, obstetrics and gynecology, gastroenterology, surgery, urology and urgent care. Physicians East totals 102 providers, and over 600 employees provide services for patients in a 29-county region. 

Dr. Ann Ostrovsky 

Chief of Ophthalmology, ECU Health Medical Center 

Dr. Ann Ostrovsky has been the chief of ophthalmology at ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville since October 2023. She says her objective is to be a leader in cutting-edge ophthalmic care, research and education while providing excellent multidisciplinary ophthalmic eye care to patients. 

Ostrovsky moved to Greenville from New York City, where she worked for almost a decade at New York University’s Langone Health Department of Ophthalmology. 

Ostrovsky was lured by the opportunity to build a new ophthalmology program at ECU Health. 

“You don’t have these kinds of opportunities frequently to build something from scratch and do it in an up-and-coming area where the impact is unbelievably powerful,” Ostrovsky says. 

Adjusting from a bustling city to the quieter environs of Greenville-Pitt County has been relatively seamless for Ostrovsky. 

“I gained four hours of my life back,” Ostrovsky says of the shorter commute time. “Living so close to work has been an unbelievable improvement in my quality of life. I have two boys who are 9 and 10, and everything here is just a lot easier and more accessible.” 

Ostrovsky’s top health advice for Greenville residents is to consistently wear sunglasses, wear protective eyewear when operating machinery, have your children’s eyes checked and don’t wear contact lenses while sleeping. 

Physicians East

Dr. Frank Dang 

Primary Care Physician, Physicians East 

Originally from Austin, Texas, Dr. Frank Dang joined Physicians East in Greenville in August 2024. He previously served as a primary care physician in Newport News, Virginia. 

With a year left of his residency in 2023, Dang began looking for jobs, and Greenville-Pitt County was high on the list since his wife, Susan, was completing her surgical residency at ECU Health Medical Center while in the Navy. 

“I was just starting to do some cold calling, seeing who might be hiring, and Physicians East was one of the places I called,” Dang says. “They brought me down, and everything I saw and heard about Physicians East just really resonated with me.” 

While Dang says he’s still getting acclimated to the area, he and Susan enjoy taking their dogs for walks on trails and trying the local cuisine. Dang’s top health advice for residents is to keep up with preventive care. 

“Taking care of yourself now – even things that you don’t feel symptoms for – your body will thank you for it down the road,” he says. “A big thing is also being in tune with your mental health and the stressors of your life and how we handle those stressors. If we don’t cope well, we’re going to lean toward unhealthy habits, like eating out too often or drinking or smoking.”