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CarolinaEast Medical Center
New Bern
Beds: 350 | 2018 rank: 4 |
CEO: Raymond Leggett III
Top-notch heart care is the hallmark of this Craven County hospital. In February, CarolinaEast was named an American Heart Association Cardiovascular Center of Excellence, the first North Carolina hospital to receive the designation. The county-owned medical center is in the midst of its largest expansion and renovation, including a new three-story tower that will house administrative offices and a clinical lab; a new women’s and children’s health pavilion; and an ER expansion and renovation. The SECU Comprehensive Cancer Center, a collaboration with UNC Health Care, will open later this year.
Challenge: Attracting and retaining a talented staff in a small community are challenges. CarolinaEast’s relatively small size could limit its ability to negotiate contracts with dominant insurers including Blue Cross.
METHODOLOGY: Business North Carolina’s 2019 Best Hospitals list is calculated by the hospitals’ performance in 25 metrics, including information provided by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. We examine patient-satisfaction surveys, rates of commonly acquired hospital infections, and readmission and death rates for common procedures. Also considered are safety report cards from The Leapfrog Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, and ratings from insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield and U.S. News & World Report. We rank the state’s adult, acute-care medical centers with at least 50 beds, excluding specialty and psychiatric hospitals.
Click here to view the 2019 list of North Carolina’s Best Hospitals.