The
Hilton Head Sun
PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID BLUFFTON, SC PERMIT NO. 135 POSTAL CUSTOMER
September 4, 2025 • Volume 28, Issue 9 • Complimentary • HiltonHeadSun.com
Celebrating 50 years of care and commitment: Hilton Head Medical Center By Page Leggett Contributor In 1975, America caught disco fever, and Roy Scheider (Chief Brody in “Jaws”) adlibbed one of the greatest lines in cinematic history: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” The Vietnam War ended and a Harvard dropout named Bill Gates co-founded a little company that would grow into a global giant. But that August, the biggest news on Hilton Head Island was that residents finally had a medical center: When Hilton Head Hospital opened Aug. 8, the island’s 6,500 residents no longer had to leave town for hospital care. That day, Gov. James B. Edwards gave a speech, the Parris Island Marine Band played and 1,600 people – nearly one-fourth of the island’s population – came out to celebrate. Hilton Head Medical Center has seen a lot of change in 50 years. One of the biggest changes happened in February of 2024 when the community hospital, now known as Novant Health Hilton Head Medical Center, joined the Novant Health network. A hospital auxiliary that predates the hospital Two years prior to the hospital’s 1975 opening, Dr. Peter LaMotte, a Hilton Head transplant from New York, and local attorney William Bethea, Jr., hatched a plan to build a hospital on the island. LaMotte, who’d been chief of trauma in orthopedic surgery at Roosevelt Hospital and team physician for the New York Mets, was acutely aware of the need to serve Hilton Head’s citizens who were mostly retirees. In November 1973, LaMotte enlisted Dorothy Hatch to create an auxiliary to raise money for hospital equipment and serve patients, staff and the community. “We assist in
Strategic action plan drives progress 4A forward
NOVANT Hilton Head Medical Center nurses stand outside the hospital on opening day in 1975. People of a certain age will recall that before they wore scrubs and spongy athletic shoes, nurses were sheathed in white from head to toe, including the iconic cap that still stands as a symbol for nursing today.
improving healthcare quality, access and delivery by providing aid and comfort to patients and their families at Hilton Head Hospital and Coastal Carolina Hospital,” said Mike Rosenfeld, a Washington state transplant who serves as president of the Hospital Auxiliary. “We’re 100% run by volunteers.” “From the minute the hospital opened, I think it became very important to the community,” he added. “From anywhere on the island, you can be in our hospital’s ER within 15 minutes. And there, you’ll find tremendous expertise in the types of ailments we have here.” He’s referring to the needs of seniors, since so many call Hilton Head Island home. “About 25% of island residents are 65 or older,” Rosenfeld said, about double the average American city. Between 2000 and 2020, the island’s 65-and-over population increased 80%. “So, the hospital has a number of specialties oriented toward that demographic – cardiopulmonary and thoracic surgery, orthopedic surgery, gastroenterology,” he added. “Coastal Carolina has a NICU and a big OB practice. There are lots of babies born at
Coastal; that’s where the young folks are.” It also serves tourists whose vacations are interrupted by injury or illness. In the summer, Hilton Head’s population of around 40,000 balloons to about 160,000. “We see lots of tourists,” said Rowena Deaton, a nurse and the hospital’s director of surgical services. “People who haven’t ridden a bike in a long time come to the island and may fall and break a bone. Pickleball seems to be big business development for us now, too.” Jellyfish stings also bring people in. Four decades … and counting Rowena Deaton has been caring for patients at Hilton Head Medical Center for 42 years. She originally worked nights as a staff nurse, and rose through the ranks to supervisor and then director. She’s seen a lot of changes. The biggest one, she said, is “the complexity of cases we see and the huge growth in minimally invasive treatments.” Very few people these days spend their entire careers at one organization, but Deaton isn’t unique at Hilton Head Medical Center.
50 YEARS CONT. ON PAGE 3A
Coastal Discovery Museum to host fall native plant sale 33A
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From Hilton Head to Washington: A March for Justice 62A