Haywood Regional Medical Center, Harris Regional Hospital and Swain County Hospital have taken the next step in the affiliation that joined the three hospitals under the MedWest umbrella. The hospitals will now be known as MedWest-Haywood, MedWest-Harris and MedWest-Swain. MedWest is an affiliate of Carolinas HealthCare, the largest healthcare system in North and South Carolina.

“As we continue to work through our affiliation agreement, it became important to unite the medical staff and employees at each of our hospitals with a single name, while at the same time allowing each campus to retain its individual identity,” said Mike Poore, MedWest CEO.

MedWest is beginning to undergo signage changes to reflect the new name, although the process will take time. MedWest recently unveiled its new logo to employees and physicians, after undergoing an extensive market research study that involved a large-scale consumer perception survey and focus groups among staff and physicians.

Together, MedWest-Haywood (170 beds), MedWest-Harris (86 beds), MedWest-Swain (48 beds) and an outpatient clinic in Franklin employ 2,100. There are 230 physicians on the medical staff.