DCH Health System
The DCH Health System, which is celebrating 100 years of providing health care in West Alabama this year, operates three public not-for-profit facilities — DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Northport Medical Center in Northport.
The flagship facility, the 583-bed Regional Medical Center, offers a variety of specialty units and advanced services, including cardiology and robotic and minimally invasive surgery. It also is the region’s advanced trauma center.
The Regional Medical Center campus also is home to the Lewis and Faye Manderson Cancer Center, which provides a full range of cancer treatment services.
The 204-bed Northport Medical Center is a community hospital that offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient services. The center also operates the DCH Rehabilitation Pavilion, the only hospital-based inpatient physical rehabilitation program in West Alabama, and the North Harbor Pavilion, a psychiatric treatment facility.
Last year, Katrina Keefer stepped in as the new CEO for DCH, following the retirement of longtime CEO Bryan Kindred, who had been at DCH since 1996. Keefer previously served as Augusta University Health CEO. She also served as vice president of health affairs at Augusta University.
Mallary Myers also joined DCH last year as senior vice president and chief operating officer. She, too, had previously served at Augusta University Health as vice president of ancillary operations and chief innovation officer.
Early this year, construction began on the south parking deck at DCH Regional Medical Center, which will be upgraded to a new four-story structure. The south entrance of the hospital also is being completely renovated.
Noland Hospital Tuscaloosa
Operated by Noland Health Services, Noland Hospital Tuscaloosa is a 27-bed long-term acute care hospital located on the fourth floor of DCH Regional Medical Center. The facility offers diagnostic and medical treatment or rehabilitation for patients with chronic diseases or medical conditions that require a hospital stay of more than 25 days.
Noland Health Services is the largest provider of such services in Alabama.
Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center
The Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center provides a full range of care — primary, long-term, rehabilitative, mental health and specialty — for eligible veterans in west-central Alabama. The facility, located on a 125-acre multi-building campus, operates 295 inpatient beds, including a 134-bed community living center, 42 psychiatry beds, 52 homeless domiciliary beds, 77 psycho-social residential rehabilitation treatment beds and 12 compensated work therapy beds. The center also offers hospice beds in its long-term care units.
The VA medical center is closely affiliated with the University of Alabama at Birmingham along with other nursing and allied health affiliations.
Mental Health Facilities
Three mental health facilities operate out of Tuscaloosa — Bryce Hospital, Mary Starke Harper Geriatric Psychiatry Center and Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility. All three are owned and operated by the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
Bryce Hospital has continuously operated in Tuscaloosa since 1861. It provides treatment for adults experiencing both acute and chronic symptoms of mental illness.
Established in 1996, the Mary Starke Harper Geriatric Psychiatry Center is an acute care psychiatric hospital that provides inpatient psychiatric services for patients aged 65 and older.
Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility is a 140-bed psychiatric hospital that provides comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and treatment to criminally committed patients. It also provides forensic evaluations for the state’s criminal courts and is the only maximum-security forensic facility operated by the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
This article appears in the September 2023 issue of Business Alabama.
