Charlotte health systems make a play for women

Plus: Singing Christmas bears search for new home; YMCA in Ballantyne fundraises for retractable pool roof; Earth Fare to close store in Davidson; CMPD chief criticizes judge's decision

Today’s Charlotte Ledger is sponsored by T.R. Lawing Realty:

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Atrium and Novant ramp up female-focused clinics; trend driven by emerging understanding of health differences and is a ‘great marketing niche’

The new Novant Health Women’s Center in SouthPark, which includes cardiology and neurology services for women, features soft white light fixtures, curved couches and stylish artwork. The women’s sexual health clinic even has floral exam paper. Health care providers are increasingly offering services catering to women, whose health needs can be different than men’s.

By Michelle Crouch

Co-published with North Carolina Health News

The term “women’s health” tends to conjure images of gynecology offices, hospital maternity centers or other facilities focused on women’s reproductive health.

But at the Novant Health Women’s Center on Fairview Road in SouthPark, you can find neurology, psychiatry, pulmonary and cardiology clinics tailored specifically to women. 

The center also offers traditional women’s services such as a sexual health clinic, an ob-gyn practice, breastfeeding support and mammography, all housed in a spa-like setting that includes soft white light fixtures with undulating curves, eye-catching artwork and other feminine décor.

Meanwhile, Charlotte’s other health care giant, Atrium Health, recently announced plans to open its own suite of women’s health services just down the road at Cameron Valley Parkway, in a space formerly occupied by an Atrium urgent care center.  

The fact that the two competing health care companies will soon offer health services targeted at women within a mile of each other underscores the importance of this market, said William Brandon, a professor emeritus of health policy at UNC Charlotte.

“The clinical differences between men and women are now much more widely recognized,” Brandon said, “and that certainly makes for a great marketing niche.” 

Experts say it’s also an important and long-overdue recognition of the many ways that women’s health needs differ from men’s. 

A ‘one-stop shop’: The 36,000-square-foot Novant women’s center, which opened in 2020, is designed to be an integrated center where physicians of different disciplines can work together to meet a woman’s health needs, said Stephanie Appling, women and children’s service line leader for Novant Health.

The women’s center occupies the fourth floor of a larger medical building, the SouthPark Medical Plaza. Appling hopes eventually to expand to other floors, perhaps by adding women’s dermatology and family practice clinics.

Appling said she wants the center to be a “one-stop shop” where women at different life stages can access care.

“We want women to be with us from start to finish,” she said. “Women have so much they’re already managing and taking care of, so we wanted to make it easier.” 

Atrium’s plans for women: Atrium plans to open a women’s sexual health practice and its first women’s cardiology program in the former urgent care center space in mid- to late 2023, said Suzanna Fox, deputy chief physician executive and service line leader for women’s care at Atrium Health. [Changed 11/14/22 to correct name and title] Also being considered: women’s physical therapy or a menopause clinic.

“We have people that are really good at menopause, but I'd love to expand that into a true menopausal center,” Fox said. “That is probably one of my next priorities.”

Other systems expanding services: In other states, hospitals have opened standalone women’s health centers dedicated to all aspects of health care for women.

So far, the Novant center appears to be the most comprehensive facility dedicated to women’s health in North Carolina, but other hospitals across the state have started offering more gender-specific health services.

In the Triangle area, both Duke Health and UNC Health have women’s cardiology centers. Duke also has a Women’s Cancer Center in Raleigh and is developing a Female Athlete Program in its sports medicine department, a spokeswoman said.

Why sex-specific care? Men’s and women’s bodies are obviously different, yet the medical field ignored those differences for decades. Researchers worried that women’s varying hormone levels would affect their data, so women were left out of clinical trials for most of the 20th century. It wasn’t until 1993 that a federal law required their inclusion in research.

As a result, women historically have been underdiagnosed and undertreated, said Katie Schubert, president and CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C.

“There was this idea that women are just small men, so if you extrapolate your results out, then whatever treatment or disease you’re studying, you can apply to the whole population,” Schubert said. “Now we know that not to be true.”

The latest research shows that men and women often experience the same disease in different ways. For example, it’s well-established that symptoms of heart disease in women are different than they are in men. Female life transitions such as pregnancy and menopause can also affect heart health. 

Treatments may also work better for one sex compared with another, or have different side effects. In addition, some conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis affect women in far greater numbers than men.

How gender makes a difference: Gender differences affect just about every medical specialty. Take neurology, for example. 

Women get migraines four times more often than men, while men get cluster headaches more often, said Megan Donnelly, head of women’s neurology at Novant. [edited 11/14/22 to correct info on cluster headaches]

Women’s headaches are often related to hormonal shifts that occur during menstruation or when they get close to menopause, Donnelly said. 

“We risk missing things if we don’t think about the sex differences,” she said.

Donnelly said she works closely with the ob-gyns in the Novant women’s center, and they send many pregnant patients down the hall to her clinic. A pregnant woman with a migraine is at greater risk of having a serious underlying issue, Donnelly said.

Women: the big health care spenders: Offering a suite of sex-specific specialties in one location is important for capturing female patients who are often pressed for time, said Tina Marsh Dalton, an economist at Wake Forest University who studies health policy. “You can just refer a patient down the hall,” she said.  

Health care systems want to attract women because studies show women make 80% to 90% of the health care decisions for their families, Dalton said.

Women also spend more on medical care than men over their lifetimes, in large part because they have babies (pregnancy and labor/delivery is care-intensive and expensive) and they live longer.

A battle for SouthPark women? Of course, the women that health care systems most want to attract are those who can afford care, Brandon said. 

So perhaps it’s not surprising that the Novant women’s center and Atrium’s planned cardiology program and sexual health clinic will both be located in SouthPark. 

“SouthPark is right in the heart of affluent Charlotte,” Brandon said, “so they are targeting women who are in a position to pay for care or who have great health care coverage.” 

And the two clinics’ proximity to one another also reflect another reality: the fierce competition for patient dollars. Brandon noted that health care systems generally don’t like to let a rival have a monopoly in any one area or specialty. 

“It’s certainly the case that where one builds a health care facility, another follows very closely,” he said. “They tend to track each other rather than move into unserved areas.” 

Michelle Crouch covers health care. If you have tips or ideas for her, please shoot her an email at mcrouch@northcarolinahealthnews.org.

This article is part of a partnership between The Ledger and North Carolina Health News to produce original health care reporting focused on the Charlotte area. We make these articles available free to all. For more information, or to support this effort with a tax-free gift, click here.

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Today’s supporting sponsor is Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:

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18-member robot Christmas bear orchestra is OUT at Founders Hall; Hunt is on for new spot in Charlotte but ‘it would take a miracle’

The Leonard Bearstein Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble of 18 animatronic bears who played holiday music in uptown’s Founders Hall for 20 years, won’t be returning this year — and maybe won’t ever.

The company that stores and sets up the bears, Spintastic Sounds, said that it plans to put up holiday decorations in Founders Hall after Thanksgiving — but minus the bears. Co-owner Todd Alexander told The Ledger this weekend that property manager JLL told him not to set up the bears this year. Founders Hall is owned by Bank of America.

The bears didn’t appear in 2020 or 2021, either. Their absence was explained by wanting to discourage large indoor gatherings during Covid.

“I think somebody upstairs said this is the perfect time to just let them go away,” Alexander said. He said he and the bank are looking for alternate locations, but that at this point, “it would take a miracle to get them somewhere this year.”

Stuck in Bessemer City? The bears are owned by Bank of America. Spintastic Sounds charges several thousand dollars for bear set-up and removal, and the bank also pays to store the bears in Spintastic’s Bessemer City warehouse. The bears started playing during the holidays in Founders Hall in 1999 after debuting at Eastland Mall.

It’s been a tough time for animatronic singing bears. Birkdale Village told Alexander it’s not interested in a return engagement of a smaller group, the Chuckles Quartet. But Chuckles and company are scheduled to appear at the Kannapolis Town Park this year, and Alexander says he’s “working feverishly to get a set in Mint Hill,” but it’s not nailed down yet. Fewer malls are interested this year because their finances are squeezed, and they’d prefer to use available space with money-making opportunities such as photos with Santa or more kiosks, Alexander says.

Asked if he thinks the popularity of robotic Christmas bears might be waning, Alexander said: “No, I don’t. We get so much traffic. It’s hugely nostalgic. … You get the usual couple of folks who go, ‘Oh, those are creepy.’ But I think if you found them a new home, it would be epic.” —TM

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The Morrison YMCA in Ballantyne is planning to add a $2.5M retractable dome to its swimming pool

Plans are underway at Ballantyne’s Morrison YMCA for an expanded pool, and a fundraising campaign has started for a new retractable “DynaDome” that will allow the pool to be used 12 months a year.

The pool expansion (which will make it an eight-lane pool) and a new pool deck will be ready for the summer 2023 season. The goal is to start construction on the DynaDome once the pool closes at the end of next summer, according to YMCA spokeswoman Heather Briganti.

The YMCA of Greater Charlotte has developed a video rendering of the proposed retractable dome over the outdoor pool at the Morrison YMCA in Ballantyne, which would allow for year-round swimming. (Courtesy of the YMCA of Greater Charlotte)

Briganti told the Ledger via email:

This enclosure will allow us to expand our aquatics programming to offer year-round swimming lessons, lap swimming, swim team, adaptive swim, athletic training, water therapy, water group exercise and family engagement opportunities.

This two-phase project will expand the Y’s drowning prevention and water safety efforts by teaching more children and adults how to swim, and will provide our members an additional year-round amenity for health and wellness.

At an event last week, YMCA President and CEO Stan Law said that the dome will cost $2.47M, and that $1.1M has been raised so far, including a “significant gift” from an anonymous donor.

The YMCA has produced a video on the project, complete with heart-pounding music. —CB

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Earth Fare retrenches again: Plans to close Davidson store

Earth Fare is closing its store in Davidson, which is at least the second local Earth Fare to close since the company was revived after shutting all its stores in early 2020.

It has been a rocky, topsy-turvy ride for Earth Fare in the last few years: In what turned out to be awful timing, it closed all 50 of its stores in February 2020 and filed for bankruptcy protection. A month later, Covid hit, and sales at grocery stores boomed. Then, a new management group bought the Earth Fare name out of bankruptcy and reopened some of the stores, including those in Ballantyne and SouthPark, and added a new store in Davidson.

Last year, the company shut the SouthPark store again. Now, it is closing the site in Davidson. The store’s Facebook page says “Earth Fare Davidson will be permanently closing its doors” and that everything is 25% off. A woman answering the phone at the store on Sunday said the final day will be “the day before Thanksgiving,” which is Nov. 23. A company spokeswoman didn’t return an email on Sunday.

Earth Fare’s website lists 21 other stores but just four others in the Charlotte region, in Ballanyne, Concord, Fort Mill and Rock Hill. [edited 11/15/22 to correct number of local stores] —TM

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Reminder about The Ledger’s charity shout-out

We’re reminding you that the deadline for our community of paying Ledger members to give their favorite local charities some well-deserved attention is next Monday (Nov. 21). The short version: Ledger members can send us 50 words or fewer, and we’ll print them in a special edition on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (which has come to be known as “Giving Tuesday”). We sent details to our paying members about this on Sunday — details of how to submit the info are here.

If you’re not a paying member of The Ledger, you’re welcome to join and then submit the information, too.

The submissions have been rolling in steadily since we announced the plan yesterday. We look forward to sharing some unheralded local charities with you, in hopes that they can increase the level of support from our community.

Get yours in today! —TM

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You might be interested in these Charlotte events: Tech/creative talent jam, women business owner retreat

Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:

• Wednesday: Talent Jam Charlotte. 6-9 p.m. Heist Brewery and Barrel Arts. Part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, this unique high-energy, hyperlocal event connects local tech and creative talent with the startups and innovative companies that need them via alternating 60-second pitches followed by casual but impactful networking. $15 - $50.

• Wednesday: Women's Wealth and Wellness: A 3-day Retreat for Women Business Owners. Nov. 16-18. North Corner Haven, Lancaster, S.C. A 3-day immersive and intimate experience for women business owners who want to grow their business with intention. Use coupon code “VIP2022”. $895.

➡️ List your event in The Charlotte Ledger.

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In brief:

• Three dead at UVa: Three people were killed and two injured in a shooting Sunday night at the University of Virginia. Police are searching for a student whom they believe carried out the attack. (CNN)

• Teams set for big football game in Charlotte: Clemson and UNC Chapel Hill will play in the ACC Championship football game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Dec. 3. (The Athletic)

• More tax cuts ahead? N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger said he favors continuing to cut taxes if the state’s budget can support it, saying corporate rates are set to decrease but that “the individual rate could stand a little trimming.” Asked about the prospect of new abortion restrictions from the Republican-controlled legislature, Berger said: “We’ll see where the caucus is, and we’ll see what is possible for us to do, if anything.” (N.C. Tribune, subscriber-only)

• Testing for viruses: Atrium Health has notified some urology patients that they will need to be tested for hepatitis and HIV after confirming that required cleaning and sanitization logs were not being accurately kept. It’s unclear how many patients were notified or whether any tested positive. (WSOC)

• City holiday for Juneteenth: The Charlotte City Council is expected to approve a measure adding an annual holiday for city workers to commemorate Juneteenth. It would be the 13th paid annual holiday for city employees.

• Police chief criticizes judge’s decision: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings criticized the decision by a Mecklenburg County judge to lower the bond amount of a defendant accused of dragging a woman into a portable toilet and raping her. The defendant, who has been accused of multiple rapes in recent years, told Judge Tracy Hewett that he would “not mess up no more,” and Hewett replied, “We’re going to help you out with that” and reduced his bond from $2M to $50,000. Jennings criticized the decision on Twitter and to WBTV and said, “We continue to ask our judicial partners to take these crimes just as serious as we do.” Hewitt, a former public defender who was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper, won election in 2018 and is stepping down at the end of this year. (WBTV)

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Taking stock

Unless you are a day trader, checking your stocks daily is unhealthy. So how about weekly? How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:

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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project