ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County Hospital, which has undergone several changes in the last eight months in part because of Hurricane Florence, has announced another.

Mark Cobb was been named as the president of Bladen Healthcare. He is making something of a return, having been a practice administrator for Bladen County when he joined the Cape Fear Valley Health family in 2016.

He advanced in the health-care system, most recently serving as corporate director of operations for the Ambulatory Medical Group. He’s a native of Charleston, West Virginia, with more than 20 years of experience in health care.

In a news release, Cobb said, “I’m very honored for the opportunity to again serve this community and employees at Bladen County Hospital.”

Dr. Roxie Wells had held the position, and one leading Hoke Healthcare. She was tapped in late 2014, while serving as associate chief medical officer of Cape Fear Health System, to lead the new hospital in Hoke County that opened in March 2015. She joined Cape Fear Valley Health in 2010 as a practicing physician at Stedman Medical Care, and was named to lead Bladen County Hospital in August 2016.

When Wells joined the hospital, it was a 58-bed facility with 24-hour emergency department, 23-bed medical/surgical unit, an intensive care unit and a birthing center.

The surgical suite, and the labor and delivery unit, were among the parts of the hospital badly damaged when Florence made landfall the morning of Sept. 14 near Wrightsville Beach and stayed in the area for three days. The labor and delivery unit never reopened after Florence, with the health system in January saying it was a permanent closure. There were 200 deliveries there in the abbreviated 2018.

The health system said at the time emergency services, inpatient services and surgeries would continue.

Mark Cobb
https://www.bladenjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_mark-cobb.jpegMark Cobb

Alan Wooten

Bladen Journal

Alan Wooten can be reached at 910-247-9132 or awooten@bladenjournal.com. Twitter: @alanwooten19.