Our speaker at today's meeting (Thursday, Jan. 7) is Steve Heatherly, chief executive officer of Harris Regional and Swain Community Hospitals, who will discuss the recently announced Ascent Partnership.

3. Western Carolina University
College of Health and Human Sciences
• Undergraduate and Graduate
Programs:
– Communication Sciences and
Disorders
– Health Sciences
– Nursing
– Physical Therapy
– Social Work
• Housed in 160,000 sq. ft.
state-of-the-art building:
– Onsite learning labs
– Practicum clinics
• Training thousands of
healthcare professionals each
year

4. Harris Regional Hospital
Swain Community Hospital
• Became Duke LifePoint
Hospitals in 2014
• Medical staff of more than
100 physicians in Jackson,
Swain, Macon counties in
25 specialties
• Also serving Graham and
other western counties
• Employ 900 people
• 14 Duke LifePoint hospitals
in U.S./9 in NC
• 65+ LifePoint hospitals in 21
states

5. The Ascent Partnership
• The Ascent Partnership is the formal
collaboration between Western Carolina
University, Harris Regional Hospital and Swain
Community Hospital focused on ensuring access
to quality health care in North Carolina's
westernmost counties.
• Partnership initiatives include training the next
generation of health care workers and supporting
educational and outreach activities that benefit
the health of those living in the region.

6. Launched at LEAD: WNC
October 2015

7. How it Began
• Individuals from multiple university and hospital
disciplines began discussing identity in early 2015
• The Ascent Partnership was officially named after a
decades-long relationship between the organizations
featuring clinical training opportunities for students
and hospital support for WCU's athletic teams and arts
events
• The Ascent Partnership provides opportunity to
publicly identify community benefits of the
relationship
• Chose ‘Ascent’ to signify journey as opposed to
destination

8. Key Partnership Elements
• Training the next generation
of healthcare workers
– Sports Medicine/Physical
Therapy Clinic for training
rotations and community
healthcare access
– Primary Care Clinic for
training rotations and
community healthcare access
– Full tuition support for three
students enrolled in WCU
nurse practitioner program in
exchange for minimum three-
year commitment to working
at Harris/Swain
Mary Curtis McCracken at Harris Sports Medicine
and Physical Therapy at WCU

9. Community Impact
• Three nurse
practitioners each
caring for 2,000-patient
panel = 6,000 people
• Impacting 10% of
western counties’
population
Dr. David Belcher with Patti Sparling, FNP
graduate of WCU program

10. Other Benefits
• Community Education: Speaker series
• Support for Catamount athletes through
athletic training and game coverage
• Support for WCU events:
– Valley of the Lilies Half Marathon and 5K
– Friends of the Arts events

11. Brief Video and Questions