Patients googling Harnett Health facilities might see different results in their search. Instead of “Angier Medical Services,” they will see “Cape Fear Valley Primary Care – Angier.” “Harnett OB-GYN” will come up as “Cape Fear Valley OB/GYN – Dunn.” It is all part of the final step of Harnett Health’s merger with Cape Fear Valley Health: rebranding.
Signs for the former Harnett Health facilities will change to read Cape Fear Valley Health this month, according to a press release from Cape Fear Valley Health. Billing, appointment messaging and other documents will also reflect the new names.
Though the names are changing, all care patients receive at the 24 health facilities formerly branded with the Harnett Health name will remain unaffected.
“What’s changing is the continued expansion and enhancement of services in Harnett County under the Cape Fear Valley Health brand, as well as facility names, as the Cape Fear Valley brand replaces all the older Harnett Health signage and names,” said Cape Fear Valley Health CEO Michael Nagowski in the press release.
The rebrand is the final step in a decade-long partnership between Harnett Health and Cape Fear Valley Health. In 2014, Cape Fear Valley Health entered a management services agreement with Harnett Health to help the then-financially failing health system, according to reporting from . A management services agreement is a contract that allows another organization to take over non-medical managerial tasks of a medical practice, from billing to purchasing supplies.
For the next seven years, Cape Fear Valley Health was the exclusive provider, supervisor and manager of the day-to-day operations of all facilities under Harnett Health. Cape Fear Valley Health was also in charge of the system’s annual budgets, supervising all patient billing and other accounts payable for services provided by Harnett Health. The board of trustees for Harnett Health still had the final say in a handful of decisions, including adding and removing services, according to the management services agreement.
“One of the biggest impacts [of the management services agreement] was allowing Harnett Health to take advantage of the purchasing power of a larger system, which allowed us be more efficient,” Harnett Health President Cory Hess told CityView. “Patients also benefitted from a new, closer relationship with the extended network of providers under Cape Fear Valley Health.”
Cape Fear Valley Health received $300,000 as a base fee for services provided under the management services agreement in the first two years of the agreement term. The total increased annually by 3% for the remainder of the term.
In 2021, Harnett Health officially joined the Cape Fear Valley Health system. Since then, Hess said Harnett County has seen expanded services. Harnett Health added new behavioral health beds, an ear, nose, throat clinic in Dunn and more primary care clinics. Last year, Cape Fear Valley Health broke ground on a 70,000-square-foot cancer and medical arts building at the Central Harnett Hospital to open later in 2024.
“The exceptional care our patients in Harnett County receive remains our top priority,” said Nagowski in the press release about Harnett Health’s rebranding. “And we are proud to continue delivering it with the same dedicated team of professionals they know and trust.”
Here are the facility name changes, per the rebranding press release:
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with , a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the .
Morgan Casey is a reporter for the Border Belt Independent and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in the Border Belt and can be supported through a donation to the Border Belt Reporting Center, Inc.
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