Elkin, NC – July 8, 2025. – Today, Hugh Chatham Health and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist announced Hugh Chatham Health has officially joined Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, part of the third-largest nonprofit health system in the country, Advocate Health. Additionally, Atrium Health is investing $100 million to ensure access to enhanced resources and expertise is delivered by health care providers who best understand the community’s unique needs.
“Hugh Chatham Health believes in the power of our two organizations coming together toenhance patient care, community engagement and innovation in health care delivery,” said Hugh Chatham Health Board of Trustees Chair Cynthia Gonzalez. “Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s deep commitment and experience with serving rural communities like Elkin was one of the key drivers of our decision to select them as our partner.”
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist was selected, in part, because of its long-standing commitment to rural health care. North Carolina has the second-largest rural population in the United States, with many located in and around the Yadkin Valley area. These rural communities have specific health care challenges, such as recruiting providers and ensuring access to essential services. As part of Atrium Health’s commitment, their $100 million investment will allow Hugh Chatham Health to:
- Implement a new electronic health record, EPIC, to facilitate seamless care coordination between providers at Hugh Chatham Health and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.
- Advance the recruitment and retention of primary care and specialty care providers to the Yadkin Valley region.
- Support and expand current clinical programs such as Women’s Services, Heart and Vascular and Cancer Care to ensure essential services stay local.
- Provide professional and career growth opportunities for Hugh Chatham Health team members and providers.
“At a time when rural health care is under pressure across the country, we are stepping up to ensure rural communities have access to leading-edge primary and specialty care close to home – and that’s what this partnership with Hugh Chatham Health is going to deliver,” said Eugene A. Woods, CEO of Advocate Health, of which Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is a part. “This partnership is about ensuring families in the rural Yadkin Valley have access to the same nationally-recognized medicine, virtual care, and specialty programs in women’s and children’s health, heart and vascular, cancer, and more – without having to travel far for the care they need and deserve.”
“With our 25-year history of collaboration, this next step naturally builds on our shared commitment to deliver high-quality care, while providing access to advanced resources, cuttingedge technology and clinical expertise,” said Dr. David Zaas, president of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. “And with Wake Forest University School of Medicine as our academic core, we are excited to bring new opportunities for medical innovation and growth, ensuring long-term health and wellness for the communities we serve.”
In addition to the $100 million commitment to Hugh Chatham Health, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist has committed $30 million to establish the Yadkin Valley Wellness Foundation, whose mission will advance health and wellness priorities in the community and ensure that the terms and conditions of the broader affiliation are fully met.
“For more than 10 years, I have had the privilege of working with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist as a partner on many levels,” said Paul Hammes, CEO of Hugh Chatham Health. “I know, firsthand, their deep commitment to high-quality, patient-centered care – especially in our rural communities. I am excited about the unlimited possibilities of our future together and the positive impact we can have on this community.”
The Hugh Chatham Health board and executive team have committed to keeping the community informed as the process moves forward. Patients and community members are encouraged to visit hughchatham.org/the-power-of-together, a dedicated web page to learn more about this partnership and receive timely updates.
Hugh Chatham Health is a not-for-profit community health care network of physician clinics and an 81-bed acute care hospital that delivers high-quality, convenient health care to residents of the Yadkin Valley region of North Carolina. Employing more than 900 team members, Hugh Chatham Health includes a medical group with more than 70 providers across 25 locations, a home health care division, and joint ventures in a critical access hospital and hospice/palliative care organization. Headquartered in Elkin, North Carolina, Hugh Chatham Health has been nationally recognized for patient satisfaction, patient safety and clinical quality.
About Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is a preeminent academic health system based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and is part of Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s two main components are an integrated clinical system – anchored by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, an 885-bed tertiary-care hospital in Winston-Salem that includes Atrium Health Levine Children’s Brenner Children’s Hospital, five community hospitals, more than 300 primary and specialty care locations and more than 2,700 physicians – and Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the academic core of Advocate Health, and a recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research, including Wake Forest Innovations, a commercialization enterprise focused on advancing health care through new medical technologies and biomedical discovery. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist employs more than 22,000 teammates, part of Advocate Health’s more than 160,000 teammates. Committed to redefining care for all, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist provides $1.2 billion in community benefits. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States, created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois; Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama; and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health services nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. Advocate Health is nationally recognized for its expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs more than 160,000 teammates across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations, and offers one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to redefining care for all, Advocate Health provides more than $6 billion in annual community benefits.
