Following a phased reopening plan, the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center is pleased to announce it will reopen (some services limited) to the public Oct. 5. Opening hours will be 5:30 a.m. to noon and 2 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The facility is closed on Sundays.

The Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency has identified a COVID-19 cluster connected to Haywood Regional Hospital.  Currently, fewer than 20 of more than 800 current employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

Haywood Regional Medical Center, a Duke LifePoint hospital, is doing its part to meet the growing mental health needs in the region by expanding its behavioral health unit for adults and geriatric patients.

More than $6 million has been spent on upgrades and improvements at Haywood Regional Medical Center since it was bought by Duke LifePoint hospital network last year.

Pumping cash into the facility and equipment was a condition of the deal, a pledge that is par for the course in the dozens of acquisitions LifePoint has carried out.

The new CEO of Haywood Regional Medical Center assumed his role this week, pledging to lead the hospital into a new era under the ownership of Duke LifePoint.

The sale to Duke LifePoint last year ended Haywood Regional’s proud history as a community-owned, locally controlled hospital. But it was seen as a necessity to survive, with small independent hospitals fading fast everywhere without the economies of scale and expertise brought to bear by larger hospital systems.

It’s been three months since publicly owned Haywood Regional Medical Center became a private hospital owned by Duke LifePoint Healthcare, but it will be years before the county knows for sure how much it will get from the $26 million sale.

When Janie Sinacore-Jaberg walked the halls of Haywood Regional Medical Center Friday morning, the congratulations were flowing and the balloons flying.

“Our staff is incredibly excited. There are just smiles everywhere. You could feel it. It was palpable when you walked in the hospital today,” said Sinacore-Jaberg, the CEO of Haywood Regional.

 The Emergency Department at MedWest Haywood is fully online, having treated 180 patients during the Fourth of July weekend. The department, along with outpatient services and the hospital’s business offices, re-opened June 30, 11 days after a fire in the power room shut down the whole building, causing 62 patients to be evacuated to hospitals in neighboring counties. 

Haywood Regional Medical Center is on its way to recovery after a small fire in its power room earlier this month knocked out the electrical system, closing the hospital and causing its 62 patients to be shuttled to hospitals in neighboring counties.

The campus of Haywood Regional Medical Center is full of cars coming and going, staff walking toward or returning from shifts and people in workout gear heading toward the Fitness Center. Staff members help an elderly woman in a wheelchair get in her vehicle after discharging her from care, and staff working with those still admitted move between stations.