ECU Health (formerly Vidant Health) is a not-for-profit, 1,447-bed hospital system that serves more than 1.4 million people in 29 Eastern North Carolina counties. The health system is made up of nine hospitals and more than 12,000 employees. ECU Health also includes wellness centers, home health and hospice services, a dedicated children's hospital, rehab facilities, pain management and wound healing centers and specialized cancer care. Their flagship hospital, ECU Health Medical Center, is a level I trauma center and serves as the teaching hospital for the Brody School of MedicineatEast Carolina UniversityinGreenville. Its smaller, community-based hospitals serve as patient feeders to the main hospital. The main hospital has shuttered services at these facilities only to reroute state licenses and permits back to the main hospital. [1]
ECU Health is the largest private employer in Eastern North Carolina.[2]
All nine ECU Health hospitals have achieved The Gold Seal of Approval for quality care by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organizations in America.
In 2002, the organization implemented a program in which diabetes educators regularly visit rural clinics to improve glycemic control in African-American patients.[3]
ECU Health changed their name from University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina in January 2012 to Vidant Health.[4]
On January 3, 2022, Vidant Health announced that they would be rebranding as ECU Health. In the announcement, they indicated that it would take several months for the branding to be noticeable to the public.[5]
ECU Health EastCare provides critical care air and ground transport service to all of eastern North Carolina. There are multiple ground units, including one dedicated to children's transport. EastCare's five air units are located in Beaufort, Nash, Craven, Wayne and Bertie counties. Both ground and air units provide rapid transportation and advanced medical care to critically ill and injured patients. Both air and ground transport programs serve all types of critical patients including trauma, cardiac, medical, high-risk obstetrics, burns, and pediatric.
The ECU Health Foundation is an independent, non-profit, tax-exempt, charitable corporation that serves as the custodian for all financial gifts and bequests to ECU Health .
The governing board of ECU Health sets the policies that govern the operation and direction of ECU Health, ECU Health Medical Center and its subsidiaries. Members of the governing board meet monthly and are responsible for the articulation of its mission and values, the protection of assets and the quality of services. They serve voluntarily and without pay. Members of the governing board are chosen for their management experience and their standing as community leaders. They are chosen by the UNC Board of Governors and Pitt County Commissioners for a term of 5 years, not to exceed two consecutive terms.
