Multiple Specialists and Two Hospitals Ensure Convenience to Quality Services
When it’s time to see a doctor, it’s nice to know that, no matter the specialty, the doctor isn’t far away. That’s the kind of health care residents of the Mooresville area enjoy – great care right at home. With two major hospitals, ample medical office space and a sophisticated and collegial medical community, Mooresville is an appealing locale for physicians and other medical professionals across a broad range of specialties.
One of those specialists is Dr. Matt Johnson, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon who moved from Miami in 1999 to launch Johnson Oral Surgery in Mooresville.
“I wanted more of a hometown environment, but an area that’s growing,” he says.
Married with two teenage sons, Johnson adds that the community’s family-friendly environment was a lure, too.
“What’s unique about my training is that I’m both a medical doctor and a dentist, and I’m board-certified in oral and maxillofacial surgery,” Johnson says. While he handles typical outpatient procedures such as wisdom-teeth extractions, he is the go-to physician should a patient arrive in the emergency room suffering injuries to the face or jaw. Johnson describes himself as a bridge between physician and dental practices in the area.
“I am kind of a crossroads between the two communities, and that’s not a bad situation. It ensures that the patients get the best care, and we enjoy that opportunity and privilege,” he says. “This is the best cooperating medical community around. I didn’t have that in Miami.”
Johnson is on staff at Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, which boasts physicians in about 40 specialties. A fixture in Mooresville since 1930, LNRMC opened the doors of its new $41 million, 117-bed hospital in 1999. The hospital is on 30 acres just off Interstate 77 north of Mooresville, where the population is booming. A vibrant collection of medical practices surrounds the facility.
In August 2008, LNRMC became the first Iredell County hospital to offer minimally invasive robotic surgery, a remarkable improvement over conventional laparoscopy. In June 2008, the medical center introduced the Prestige Surgical Disc System to the county. The stainless-steel implant is medicine’s newest technology to treat patients suffering from degenerative disc disease of the neck.
Physicians in most specialties also treat patients at Iredell Memorial Hospital in nearby Statesville. In September 2008, Iredell Memorial earned the Gold Seal of Approval for its stroke-care program from The Joint Commission, the nation’s leading hospital accreditation organization. The hospital’s Diabetes Center also was lauded nationally in 2008, awarded the American Diabetes Association Education Recognition Certificate.
When it comes to the latest medical technology, Iredell Memorial added two operating suites in 2008 equipped with digital-imaging systems for complex surgeries. To aid in the early detection of cancer, the hospital offers positron emission tomography and computed tomography, two imaging modalities that show the internal chemistry of the body. In 2007, the hospital introduced computed tomography heart scanning to detect coronary artery disease.
