Novant Health announced the appointment of Denise Mihal as the new president of Brunswick Community Hospital (BCH). She officially began her new duties on March 1st and has been working behind the scenes for the past month during the hospital's transition to joining Novant Health.

Mihal most recently served as administrator of Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville, which is part of the Novant healthcare system. In December of 2005, the Brunswick County Hospital Authority selected Novant Health as BCH's new health system partner. The Hospital Authority and Novant recently developed a new lease agreement. At the same time, Novant successfully negotiated with HCA to buy out the existing lease between the county and HCA.

"Hospital staff, physicians and Authority members will enjoy working with Denise," Wiles predicted. "Her background includes working as an intensive care unit nurse, as a management leader of patient services and as an administrator of a hospital. She brings a passion to work for providing excellent service to patients and physicians and for prioritizing employees as an organization's most valuable resource."

"I'm excited about joining the healthcare and civic community of Brunswick County," Mihal said. "My leadership team and I will work tirelessly to ensure that our new partnership first meets the community's needs and then exceeds everyone's expectations." She has already relocated to Brunswick County and appointed several new hospital leaders to join the existing management team at BCH.

Mihal brings 19 years of healthcare experience to Brunswick Community Hospital. She has worked for Novant and Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte for the past five years. Most recently, Novant promoted her to administrator of Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville, a new 50-bed facility which opened 14 months ago in one of the fastest growing communities in the Carolinas. The hospital quickly became one of the most successful community hospitals in the country and plans are underway to expand services to meet the growing demand.

She began her career as an intensive care nurse at two New Jersey hospitals before becoming a critical care nurse manager at South Miami Hospital in Florida. Prior to joining Presbyterian in 2000, she was administrative director of nursing at Homestead Hospital in Homestead, Fla.

When she first joined Presbyterian, Mihal served as director of nursing for the medical and surgical units at Presbyterian Hospital and Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital. Then, in 2002, she was named executive director of Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, a 150-bed specialty facility. During her time there, the orthopaedic hospital ranked as one of America's Top 100 hospitals for orthopaedic care and achieved other state and national awards for quality care.

Novant promoted her to administrator of the new Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville during the early stages of construction. She led the start-up of the facility by overseeing the hiring of 400 staff, the compliance with tough licensure requirements and national accreditation by the Joint Commission which verifies the quality of hospitals and other healthcare organizations.

Wiles commented that Mihal and her management team achieved impressive results since opening the Huntersville hospital in November of 2004. Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville ranks in the nation's top 2% of hospitals for patient satisfaction and the top 4% for employee morale, according to the national rating firm Professional Research Consultants. In addition, the hospital's financial performance exceeded expectations, which is important for having funds to quickly expand services and to provide community outreach to the poor and uninsured.

Mihal received her bachelor's of science degree in nursing from William Paterson College in Wayne, N.J., and a master's in business administration from Rutgers University in Newark, N.J. In 2004, the Charlotte Business Journal honored her with the "Woman in Business Achievement Award." Mihal also served as a board member of the local United Way and an active member of the Rotary.