One of the primary concerns for a provider of health care such as Watauga Medical Center is the health of its community. Statistics show that for ever dollar spent on wellness activities several dollars are saved on care in the future.

The Paul H. Broyhill Wellness and Rehabilitation Center opened in March, 1998. It was Watauga Medical Center’s first program aimed at keeping the community healthy as well as treating them when they became ill.

Over the years the membership of the wellness center has increased and the need for additional space became apparent. When the center was built plans were made to add a second phase to the project to provide for aquatic exercise and therapy.

The second phase of the center is now nearing completion. It will feature a lap pool for aquatic exercise and a pool that can be rapidly heated or cooled for physical therapy. Expanded dressing areas are being constructed as well as additional space for aerobic exercise. The newly completed addition will feature three additional classrooms which will be used for healthy living related classroom education. The older part of the building will be renovated to provide additional space for Blue Ridge Physical Therapy.

The center welcomes all who wish to use the facility to learn about a healthier lifestyle and to practice what they learn.

One of the community’s major employers is the Watauga Medical Center, providing more than 950 jobs. The roster of medical staff and consulting physicians now numbers more than 150.

Watauga Medical Center

Watauga Medical Center completed a major $22 million capital expansion project in 2004 to fulfill its commitment to provide compassionate, state-of-the-art health care services in the community. Included is an outpatient imaging center to meet the growing needs of the community for screening mammography, bone density procedures and routine x-ray. An open MRI was installed in June, 2006. The center provides modern imaging technology and is designed to offer the ultimate in patient convenience.

These enhancements are consistent with the hospital’s vision, “to build a regional health care system, providing services with integrity that will improve the quality of life in our communities.”

In June of 2004 Watauga Medical Center and the Charles J. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital in Linville created an organization, Appalachian Regional Healthcare System, Inc. to affect the integration of the two systems. “This allows us to provide and view healthcare on a regional basis”, says Sparks who remains president of Watauga and assumes the role of President and CEO of Appalachian Regional Healthcare System, Inc.

Sparks attributes the success of the system to a health care delivery team that is “truly committed toward helping others in their time of need. Incredible strengths and accomplishments can accrue when talented, dedicated individuals work as part of a team. True success in delivering exceptional patient care can occur only through coordinate, often selfless, teamwork.”

Watauga Medical Center is fully accredited by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and licensed as a 117-bed regional referral medical complex, offering both primary and secondary acute and specialty care. In addition to the main hospital, the medical center includes the Seby B. Jones Regional Cancer Center offering both radiation and chemotherapy on an outpatient basis. The Center is recognized as an approved community cancer care center by the American College of Surgeon’s Committee on Cancer.

This is the hospital's new Cath Lab Procedure Room

Other units are: The Paul H. Broyhill Wellness and Rehabilitation Center; The Scott Mallard Kidney Dialysis Center, which provides end-stage renal dialysis on an outpatient and inpatient basis; Medical Center Home Health, which provides a full range of home care services; Blue Ridge Physical Therapy, which provides outpatient and sport related physical therapy; The Sanger Cardiology Clinic; the Herman Godwin Medical Oncology Unit, and a branch of the Northwest Area Health Education Center.

Watauga Medical Center personnel are proud to serve the community of Boone and Watauga County, as well as surrounding counties in North Carolina and Tennessee, which account for approximately half of the patients who receive treatment here.

Construction began in 2006 to expand the Medical Center’s Emergency Department to accommodate the growing demand for these services. In addition the Medical Center plans to replace its management information system and expand it to include automated medical records as well as computerized physician order entry. The installation will be completed in approximately four years.

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