“I saw the opportunity to use a legal degree to be part of the solution.” “Patients have to navigate a maze to receive good care, and then they find a new maze when it comes time to pay for that care,” Blythe says. The experiences, coupled with the complicated nature of healthcare, helped Blythe realize she could use her passion for advocacy to make a difference. That interest took Blythe to University of South Carolina School of Law, where she assisted a health law professor and completed an internship at a large regional firm with a strong healthcare practice. As she and her sisters struggled to find an advocate, a seed was planted, and she later nurtured a growing interest in the law. A North Carolina transplant from Indiana, as a child she wound through the court system as a ward of the state. Using her skills in the service of others has been a lifelong personal and professional goal for Blythe. Treating those patients takes contributions from each of the system’s 4,300 employees, and Blythe is happy to play an important role by leveraging her legal expertise. Jennifer Blythe Corporate Counsel, Legal Affairs CaroMont Health Photo by Dodie HuffmanĬaroMont now experiences about 250,000 patient encounters per year. The 146,000-square-foot tower is part of a $350 million total investment in system projects and improvements necessitated by growth of an aging population. Her colleagues at the flagship hospital are now able to expand critical care through construction of a new patient tower that will make service delivery more efficient and solidify the center as the region’s central hub for advanced care.Įach floor in the four-story expansion will house twenty-six patient rooms and state-of-the-art nursing stations built for enhanced collaboration. The work of Blythe and the legal and operations team in negotiating the land lease set other critical developments in motion. “Moving this health system forward is a team effort, but there are people here who sacrifice a lot to improve and save lives each and every day.” Jennifer BlytheĪs it operates in a Certificate of Need state, CaroMont required plan approval from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, which it received in March 2020. The new hospital is scheduled to open in 2023. “This is a landmark deal that CaroMont and our patients will rely on for the next five decades and it gives us a foundation we can build on,” she explains.Ĭonstruction will begin right away, and the facility will house medical office buildings, physician offices, operating rooms, sixty-six inpatient beds, surgical capabilities, labor and delivery, and an emergency department. The signed long-term lease will help secure Gaston County’s future, and Blythe is proud of the work she contributed to finding a solution. When CaroMont’s leaders identified Belmont Abbey College as a strong partner with shared values, Blythe stepped in and helped to negotiate a fifty-year ground lease for the future location of CaroMont Regional Medical Center-Belmont. Jennifer Blythe, corporate counsel for legal affairs, knew she had the opportunity to impact her community by improving access to high-quality care. CaroMont Health, a regional health system in North Carolina, was growing and needed to find land for a second hospital.
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