Press release
From Mission Health:
Mission Health is pleased to announce a new collaboration with Western Carolina’s Women’s Specialty Center (WCWSC), which has been dedicated to providing compassionate and effective care for women throughout western North Carolina since 2003. This new collaboration will enhance patient access to a broader network of subspecialized gynecologic care.
The WCWSC specialty center on Ridgefield Boulevard in Asheville provides a warm, comfortable environment focused exclusively on women. It offers state-of-the-art facilities and technology for full diagnostic and therapeutic care for women with abnormal pap smears, bladder problems, bowel issues, breast conditions, menopause, fibroids, abnormal bleeding, pelvic pain, vaginal prolapse, gynecologic health, or sexual issues.
“Our collaboration with Western Carolina’s Women’s Specialty Center aligns directly with Mission Health’s dedication to education, outreach, prevention, research and treatment while reflecting our core values of innovation and the pursuit of excellence in women’s medicine across the region,” said Jill Hoggard Green, Ph.D, RN, President and COO of Mission Hospital. “It is a privilege to collaborate with WCWSC, because together we are one step closer to achieving our BIG(GER) Aim: to get each patient to the desired outcome, first without harm, also without waste and with an exceptional experience for the patient and family.”
The practice includes physicians who are the only Fellowship-trained Urogynecologists in Western North Carolina and who are among the first specialists in the United States to be Board Certified in Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery. Additionally, the physicians at WCWSC have significant expertise with breast cancer and high-risk breast disease and provide minimally invasive gynecologic surgery.
“We are pleased to establish this collaboration with Mission Health because they share our view that every patient is someone’s mother, daughter, sister or friend,” said Dr. James Theofrastous, WCWSC. “Working with a nationally recognized, Top 15 health system supports our goals of expanding patient support services and patient access to research opportunities. By working together, we will have access to the additional resources of a superb health system, and this collaboration will allow us to provide care to more women throughout the region.”
WCWSC is located just off Brevard Road at 2100 Ridgefield Boulevard in Asheville. For more information about WCWSC and its doctors, please call (828) 670-5665 or visit http://wcwsc.com/.
About Mission Health
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 five hospitals, numerous outpatient and surgery centers 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 730 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, McDowell Hospital in Marion and Transylvania Regional Hospital in Brevard. With approximately 9,500 employees and 700 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.
Yet more specialists that will now be billing their patients at hospital rates; yet more patients who’ll be receiving large bills from Mission, as it gobbles up every independent specialist it can in the area.