Hospital will buy Goldsboro Clinic
By Laura Collins
Published in News on July 15, 2010 1:46 PM
Wayne Memorial Hospital is taking steps toward adding physicians to its staff.
At Tuesday's board of directors meeting, hospital CEO William Paugh said they plan to acquire Goldsboro Medical Clinic by Sept. 1.
The clinic, located at 2400 Wayne Memorial Drive, will have only two full-time physicians by September. According to Tom Bradshaw, vice president of operations at the hospital, Dr. Howard Newell will not remain with the clinic, but will continue working at the hospital's wound care center two to three days each week. To fill in the gap, the hospital has started the process to recruit another physician or intern to the practice.
He said the move to buy the clinic is a win-win for both the hospital and the clinic.
"When physicians are running their own practice, they're running a business. Some are saying they went to medical school to be a doctor, not to own a business," Bradshaw said.
Acquiring the clinic, which is a first for the hospital, also helps the hospital when it comes to recruiting other physicians to the area.
"Physicians said they don't want to come (to Goldsboro) unless they are employed. So to get physicians to come to the community and stay in Goldsboro, the hospital had to step in," he said.
The doctors will still function out of the Goldsboro Medical Clinic, but the hospital will own the hard assets like equipment, machinery and furnishings in the clinic and will also own the real estate including the land and the portion of the building the clinic occupies.
The hospital is still going through the appraisal process, which is done by an independent party, so Bradshaw said the total cost hasn't been finalized.
In addition to the clinic and the hospital, Bradshaw added that the acquisition also benefits the community.
"This preserves the physicians in the community and we need the physicians to better serve the community," he said.