Atrium Health


Summary

Atrium Health, formerly Carolinas HealthCare System, is a not for profit hospital network which operates hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, urgent care centers, and medical practices in the American states of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. About 90% of the hospitals affiliated with the system are located within 75 miles of Carolinas Medical Center, the system's flagship hospital and headquarters, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The system has over 70,000 employees.
Legally, Atrium Health is The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, a municipal hospital authority established under North Carolina's Hospital Authorities Act. The authority is governed by a self-perpetuating board of commissioners which nominates new commissioners to fill its own vacancies; the chair of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners can approve or veto those nominations but not make nominations of her own.

President & CEO

Eugene A. Woods, MBA, MHA, FACHE, is president and chief executive officer of Atrium Health. Woods joined Atrium Health in April 2016 and collaborated with the organization’s nearly 70,000 employees to unite around a redefined vision to be the first and best choice for care.

Notable Highlights

https://atriumhealth.org/about-us/newsroom/news/2020/07/atrium-health-earns-multiple-honors-by-us-news-world-report U.S. News & World Report (2020-2021)


  • Becker’s Hospital Review – 150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare 2019
  • American Hospital Association’s 2019 Equity of Care Award  
  • Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Society Center of Excellence
  • Magnet Recognized, American Nurses Credentialing Center 2018
  • Atrium Health Mercy awarded Gold Certification for Excellence in Person-Centered Care by Planetree International 2019
  • Energy Star Partner of the Year 2019: Atrium Health Recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy
  • The Charlotte Observer: Top Workplaces 2019 for training and career development  
  • Forbes’ 2019 Best Employers for Women, Best-In-State Employer ranked #16 out of #67 in NC
  • Prism International 2019 ERG and Council Honors: Atrium Health’s Divisional Diversity Council ranked as #8 best employee resource group in the nation
  • American Heart Association 2019 Workplace Health Achievement Gold Award
  • Forbes’ 2019 Best Employers for New Grads  
  • Secretary of Defense Employer Support: Freedom Award
  • American Hospital Association’s 2019 Quest for Quality Prize  
  • 2019 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by IBM Watson Health: Atrium Health Pineville’s Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute  
  • 2019 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence for reducing high risk opioid prescriptions

    • COVID-19 Response

  • Atrium Health initiated a nationally leading, innovative testing model, integrating actionable Geographic Information System data with mobile medical units to address the testing disparity among underserved and minority communities.
  • Atrium Health’s Levine Children’s Hospital is one of 30 sites across the world – and the only children’s hospital in North Carolina – selected to open a clinical trial to test the efficacy of remdesivir in pediatric patients who test positive for COVID-19.
  • Atrium Health launched a new initiative, “Para Tu Salud” – simply translated to “For Your Health” – to further educate and inform Hispanic communities on how to stay safe and healthy.
  • Atrium Health expanded hospital capacity by opening new Atrium Health COVID-19 Virtual Hospital.
  • The acute surgery division at Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center developed a hospital blueprint for handling essential operations during the COVID-19 pandemic to help guide hospital surgery departments through the crisis.
  • Atrium Health was invited to participate in the COVID-19 Community Research Partnership by Wake Forest Baptist Health, a nationally recognized academic medical center and health system based in Winston-Salem, N.C.

    Innovation & Education

  • Atrium Health’s Levine Children’s Hospital is one of a handful of sites nationwide with the ability to turn computer models into 3D replicas of children’s hearts.
  • In 2019, Atrium Health’s Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute’s clinical care team became one of the first teams in the United States and the world to implant a new device to treat a patient with heart valve issues.
  • In 2019, Atrium Health researchers were awarded a $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to test the value of practicing post-sepsis care at 8 hospitals to further what’s known about best practices for post-sepsis care.
  • A new therapy, developed at Atrium Health’s McColl-Lockwood Laboratory for Muscular Dystrophy Research, was created to treat limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2I, one of the rarest forms of muscular dystrophy.
  • Levine Children’s Hospital and Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute were the first in the region to use high-density grid mapping catheter,, to ablate, or destroy, a scar-related arrhythmia in a post-operative adult congenital heart patient.

    Hospitals

    • Atrium Health comprises the following hospitals:

    [North Carolina]

    Charlotte">Charlotte, NC">Charlotte metropolitan area

    Atrium Health is based in Charlotte, but its assets are not limited to Charlotte. The network operates eight hospitals within the Charlotte area; four of them are considered by many to comprise 90% of the operations at Atrium Health.
    Main Facilities
    These hospitals are considered to be the bulk of Atrium Health's operations:
    Atrium Health operates six freestanding Emergency Departments. These are 24-hour emergency care centers for the treatment of urgent and emergency medical conditions, but are not attached to a full service hospital.
    These hospitals are other community and regional medical centers that Atrium Health owns and operates:
    Atrium Health manages Blue Ridge Health Care System, which includes the following hospitals.
    The majority of Atrium Health's hospital operations in South Carolina is around the Charleston area.

    Charleston Metropolitan Area

    The hospitals Atrium Health manages in Charleston are organized as Roper-St. Francis Health System. This system was created in partnership with two other non-profit organizations, the Medical Society of South Carolina, one of the oldest continuously operating physician organizations in the United States and the owner of Roper Hospital, and the Bon Secours Healthcare System, which owns hospitals and medical facilities throughout the eastern United States.
    Roper-St. Francis Health System
    On February 8, 2018, Atrium Health announced plans to merge with Navicent Health based in Macon, Georgia
    Known as Atrium Health Urgent Care, it is a system of 33 urgent care centers in the Charlotte metropolitan area. While a few are 24 hours, most are open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., seven days a week.
    Atrium Health operates a rehabilitation facility on the main campus of Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte called Carolinas Rehabilitation - Charlotte. Other Rehabilitation facilities include:
    Atrium Health operates a 66-bed inpatient and outpatient behavioral health facility, as well as a behavioral health emergency department, on Billingsley Road in Charlotte. They also operate a new state of the art inpatient/outpatient facility in Davidson, North Carolina. Outpatient services include dual diagnosis treatment, child, adolescent and adult Partial Hospitalization Programs.

    Other facilities

    In addition to providing patients with quality health care, Atrium Health operates long-term care facilities in the Charlotte Area. Other facilities of importance include:
    On February 8, 2018, Atrium Health, which had changed its name a day earlier, and Navicent Health of Georgia announced a partnership.
    On December 19, leaders from Atrium Health and Navicent Health signed the definitive agreement that commits to the organizations’ strategic combination. The agreement was effective January 1, 2019, making Navicent Health the central and south Georgia hub for the Atrium Health network.
    On April, 2016, Carolinas HealthCare System appointed Eugene A. Woods president and CEO. Mr. Woods was formerly president and COO of Irving, Texas-based CHRISTUS Health. Mr. Woods earned a bachelor's degree in health planning and administration, a master's degree in business administration and a master's degree in health administration from State College-based Pennsylvania State University.
    In 2018, it was reported by Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods made $5.4 million in total compensation for calendar year 2017, his first full year leading the Charlotte-based hospital system. The figure includes a salary of $1.6 million and a bonus of more than $3 million for 2017.

    Partnership with Wake Forest Baptist Health

    On April 10, 2019, Atrium and Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina signed a memorandum of understanding as the first step toward a partnership. On October 31 the companies said an agreement had been reached and, pending regulatory approval, the partnership would be completed March 31, 2020. A medical school in Charlotte could be built by 2021 or 2022.

    Controversy