Joel Taylor, Market CEO of Hilton Head Regional Healthcare (HHRH)

Thursday, March 7, 2024

On Thursday, March 7th, Joel Taylor, Market CEO of Hilton Head Regional Healthcare (HHRH), which includes Hilton Head Hospital, spoke with us about what’s to come since Novant Health purchased Hilton Head Regional Healthcare on February 1st of this year.

Some of the very reassuring and, in fact, very exciting tidbits Joel shared included that HHRH has gone from a for-profit model to a not-for-profit model. The primary difference between the two distills down to giving care to anyone who walks through the doors. He also shared that Novant saw how this area’s population is booming and wanted a strong foothold in this market. Novant is noted for superb management, high staff and patient satisfaction scores, award-winning outcomes, healthy balance sheets, and for investing extensively in its facilities, equipment, and personnel.

You can click here to view the informative slides that Joel presented on the 7th. Following are some highlights for those of you who prefer “just the facts ma’am.”

  • For over 25 years Novant Health has been a trusted provider of safe, quality, patient-centered care in 16 medical centers and more than 800 care locations across North and South Carolina.
  • In 2022, Novant served 6.5 million people, performed 167,236 surgeries, delivered 22,766 babies, and did all of this and more thanks to its 36,079 caregivers.
  • In February Novant purchased 3 hospitals, 2 physician practices, and associated outpatient facilities in the Charleston and Hilton Head areas from Tenet Health for $2.4 billion.

We also learned that HHRH has a strong base of quality on which to further build upon with the advent of new ownership including the following awards and accreditations:

  • Primary Stroke Center and Acute Stroke-Ready Hospital
  • Breast Imaging Center of Excellence
  • BC/BS Distinction Center for Spine Surgery and Maternity Care
  • Certified Zero Harm award for Critical Care/ICU, Surgical Ward, Knee & Hip Replacement, and more.

As one might expect, the hospital is staffed by first-rate practitioners drawn to this institution by the lure of living on glorious Hilton Head Island. Physicians at HH Hospital come from best-of-class institutions including Harvard, University of Chicago, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Georgetown, Ohio State, MUSC, UVA, and many more.

HHRH currently has 1,350 local employees making an annual median wage of $69,000. In 2023 HHRH had 9,102 admissions. 63,040 ER visits, 1,010 newborn deliveries, 6,246 surgeries, 79,928 diagnostic/out-patient visits, and provided $16 million in charity care.

Joel went on to share that he is excited to see the transition from Tenet to Novant play out and to help lead further transformations for the betterment of the HHRH system and for the benefit of all of us who live in this region.