Hospitals in Carolinas HealthCare changing names

Many of the hospitals within Carolinas HealthCare System have changed names.

Although there hasn’t been a formal announcement, the system has gradually rolled out new names and signs as part of a branding campaign that began in 2013 with highway billboards highlighting the word “One,” as in “one” integrated health care system.

“As the system’s grown, there have been a lot of names,” said Erinne Dyer, vice president for corporate communications. “We’re trying to eliminate confusion and help (patients) see that it’s all a part of the same system.”

Carolinas Medical Center, the system’s flagship hospital, will retain its name. But most other hospitals that have used “Carolinas Medical Center,” or the short-hand “CMC,” as a prefix will substitute the phrase “Carolinas HealthCare System” before the location name.

For example, Carolinas Medical Center-Lincoln (also known as CMC-Lincoln) was first to change in September, and is now called Carolinas HealthCare System Lincoln, without a hyphen. Other examples: CMC-University is now Carolinas HealthCare System University and CMC-Pineville is now Carolinas HealthCare System Pineville.

Cleveland Regional Medical Center and Kings Mountain Hospital had never used “Carolinas Medical Center” in their names but have been renamed using the new convention. They are now Carolinas HealthCare System Cleveland and Carolinas HealthCare System Kings Mountain.

The system’s psychiatric hospital on Billingsley Road, which has been called Carolinas Medical Center-Randolph, has changed to Carolinas HealthCare System Behavioral Health Charlotte. The year-old satellite in Davidson is now called Carolinas HealthCare System Behavioral Health Davidson.

There are several exceptions to the new naming convention. CMC-Mercy will retain that name because it shares an operating license with Carolinas Medical Center. Three primary care clinics staffed by CMC faculty and residents will retain their names – CMC-Myers Park, CMC-Biddle Point and CMC-NorthPark.

Dyer said hospital officials began talking about the changes two years ago to “streamline the look of the signage and…go back to unifying our brand.” The changeover is slated to be finished this summer, she said.

This story was originally published May 13, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Hospitals in Carolinas HealthCare changing names."