Atrium Health is getting bigger with the combination of Elkin-based Hugh Chatham Health, a 900-employee institution that has an 81-bed hospital in the northwest N.C. city.
Hugh Chatham Health also has a medical group with more than 70 providers across 25 locations, a home healthcare division, and joint ventures in a hospice/palliative care organization.
Details about the combination were disclosed at the event in Elkin today. Winston-Salem-based Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist has agreed to invest $100 million in Hugh Chatham Health and an additional $30 million for a new community foundation,
“I think it’s great because it’s bringing money back to the community,” says Marty Roberts, chairman of the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce. He runs an exterminating business. “[CEO] Paul Hammes and his staff have done a great job at Hugh Chatham Health.”
The move continues the continued consolidation of North Carolina’s hospital industry, led by Charlotte-based Atrium, which is part of Advocate Health, a multi-state operator with annual revenue topping $32 billion.
Atrium said the transaction will enable Hugh Chatham to add the EPIC electronic health record systems; advance recruitment of providers to the area; support and expand services for women along with cancer and vascular care patents.”
The transaction comes amid concerns that the federal budget bill approved by Congress last week will cause increased financial pressure for rural hospitals such as Hugh Chatham. Increased scrutiny of Medicaid spending may cut hospitals’ revenue from the insurance program for low-income Americans, some industry observers say. Supporters of the new law say those concerns are overstated, noting that the bill includes $50 billion to support rural hospitals.
The original Hugh Chatham hospital was built in 1930-31 by the Methodist Church. It has been operated by local officials since 1967. Elkin is in Surry and Yadkin counties, and has a population of about 4,100.
Atrium and Wake Forest Baptist Health combined in 2021. Elkin is about 40 miles northwest of Winston-Salem.
The parties created a website to provide information about the combination.
David Mildenberg is editor of Business North Carolina. Reach him at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.