Progress.
Simply said, that’s exactly what Hamlet Hospital has seen in the past 10 years since moving into a new state-of-the-art replacement facility on Feb. 20, 1990.
The hospital, renamed Sandhills Regional Medical Center during the transition, celebrated a decade of progress in 2010 as it marked the 10th anniversary at its new location on U.S. Highway 74 Business.
There have been many accomplishments during the first decade. One of the greatest achievements has been breaking ground for the county’s first fixed-based MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner), which took place on March 30, 2010. The open bore, 1.5 Tesla MRI features a larger opening for claustrophobic patients, and has the ability to capture high-quality diagnostic images.
Sandhills Regional received the official certificate of approval for the fixed-based MRI in 2009 from the Certificate of Need Section, Division of Health Service Regulation, Department of Health and Human Services.
“This is a historic undertaking in healthcare in Richmond County,” said Mike McNair, SHRMC chief executive officer. “We are committed to delivering the best care possible to this community and this MRI project is another indicator of our growth here.”
McNair is the newest CEO to Sandhills Regional and will lead the hospital forward. He is no stranger to Hamlet as he served one year as chief financial officer for Hamlet Hospital in 1987. That was the same year Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA) of Naples, Florida, acquired Hamlet Hospital from the county on a 10-year lease agreement and subsequently purchased the facility in 1995.
Since then, McNair has worked for hospitals in Texas, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
The following are other major accomplishments of Sandhills Regional Medical Center over the past decade:
· Getting approval from the Certificate of Need Section of the N.C. Division of Facility Services to add six acute care beds, going from a 64- to a 70-bed facility.
· Opening of the very first wound care center in this area (ahead of Moore, Scotland, Anson and Cumberland counties in N.C., and Marlboro and Chesterfield counties in S.C.).
· Opening of Options, an outpatient behavioral health program for acute psychiatric disorders.
· Establishment of Pain Management specialty through Dr. Paul Singh of the Carolina Spine Center.
· Having the largest multi-specialty physician practice group in the county.
· A $65,000 sponsorship of the Richmond Community College teaching chair.
· A $50,000 donation to Richmond Community College’s Health Science Building
· SHRMC paid more than $1M in taxes to the City of Hamlet.
· SHRMC paid nearly $1.5M in taxes to Richmond County.
· SHRMC contributed more than half a million dollars to local charities and various sponsorships.