Asheville Orthopaedic Associates to enhance collaboration with Mission Health

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (April 14, 2014) – Mission Health is pleased to announce its affiliation with Asheville Orthopaedic Associates (AOA), a six-physician orthopaedic practice located in Asheville.

This new relationship will support and allow for the practice to expand its existing high-quality and patient-centered orthopaedic services to the outlying regions that Mission Health serves. The affiliation will also provide Mission Health with a more direct partnership with orthopaedic specialists to further its objective of providing a full range of high-quality care to the people of western North Carolina.

The six physicians comprising AOA are Joseph M. Dement, MD, Christopher L. Elder, MD, S. David Jarrett, MD, T. Marcus Barnett, MD, Mark Moriarty, MD and Walton W. Curl,  MD. All of these physicians are certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. In addition to its physicians, Asheville Orthopaedic Associates has approximately 30 other staff who assist in the delivery of specialty orthopaedic services.

“By affiliating with Mission Health, we will be better positioned to serve all of western North Carolina,” said Dr. David Jarrett, AOA’s practice president. “We’re eager to further enhance and extend our exceptional care, while maintaining the same low-cost approach our patients have come to appreciate. Mission Health is nationally recognized for exceptional quality and access to cutting-edge technologies and procedures, and we’re proud to be part of their continuum of patient care.”

“Asheville Orthopaedic Associates’ providers and their extremely professional and personable staff take great pride in achieving the best possible outcome and most patient-centered care. It is that approach in particular that makes them an ideal fit within the Mission Health family,” said Jonathan Bailey, Vice President of Operations, Mission Health.  “We look forward to our partnership with AOA, where providing high-quality, accessible and affordable patient care throughout western North Carolina guides our work, and we look forward to continuing our work with other care providers as well.”

In addition to general orthopaedics and sports medicine, the doctors at AOA see patients for knee surgery, joint reconstruction and trauma surgery, and follow-up care.

AOA providers will see patients at its current location at 111 Victoria Road in Asheville. In addition, Dr. Jarrett will continue to see patients at the practice’s Clyde location at 490 Hospital Drive. Dr. Mark Moriarty is an orthopaedic surgeon serving patients at Angel/Asheville Orthopaedics in Franklin, located at 56 Medical Park Drive, Suite 303.

For more information, visit ashevilleortho.com.

Mission Health, based in Asheville, N.C., is the state’s sixth-largest health system and the region’s only not-for-profit, independent community hospital system governed and managed exclusively in western North Carolina. Mission Health was recognized as one of the nation’s Top 15 Health Systems in 2012 and 2013 by Thomson Reuters and Truven Health Analytics, respectively. Mission Health is one of only two medium-sized health systems to receive this recognition in 2012 and 2013, and the only health system in North Carolina to achieve that distinction.

Mission Health, which traces its roots in the region back to 1885, operates six hospitals, numerous outpatient and surgery centers, post-acute care provider CarePartners, and the region’s only dedicated Level II trauma center. Its medical staff consists of more than 1,000 physicians and is certified in more than 50 medical specialties and sub-specialties. Mission Health has seven Centers of Excellence: Cancer, Heart, Mission Children’s Hospital, Neurosciences, Orthopedics, Trauma and Women’s Health. Mission Hospital, located in Asheville, is the system’s flagship hospital and is licensed for 795 beds. It is the regional referral center for tertiary and quaternary care. It also includes Mission Children’s Hospital – the region’s only children’s hospital. Other Mission Health member hospitals include Angel Medical Center in Franklin, Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine, Highlands-Cashiers Hospital in Highlands, McDowell Hospital in Marion and Transylvania Regional Hospital in Brevard. With approximately 10,600 employees and 2,000 volunteers, Mission Health is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the people of western North Carolina. For more information, please visit mission-health.org or @MissionHealthNC.