The Appalachian Regional Healthcare System (ARHS) has signed an affiliation agreement with UNC Health.
The ARHS Board of Trustees and the UNC Health Board of Directors announced the agreement on Tuesday.
ARHS President and CEO Chuck Mantooth is quick to point out that this is an affiliation, not an acquisition.
"ARHS, or Appalachian Regional Healthcare System, will continue to retain our not-for-profit status, local governance structure, local leadership," says Mantooth.
Mantooth likens it to UNC Health acting as a “big brother” helping the organization achieve its goals.
He says the system will benefit from acquiring advanced technology and software that will greatly improve the management of electronic health records and communication with patients.
Mantooth says the affiliation will also give the rural health care system access to specialty services such as advanced cancer care and heart and vascular treatments which are typically found in larger urban areas.
"We'll have the ability to, over time, bring some of those things right here to the High Country to where we would not have to have folks drive what we call ‘off the mountain' for that type of care," says Mantooth.
ARHS offers access to three hospitals, 13 medical offices, and 22 outpatient centers in the High Country.