SNOW HILL, NC – Contentnea Creek winds its way from Wilson, southeast through Snow Hill and beyond when the water empties into the Pamlico Sound.

Contentnea Creek’s place in Greene County history and its continued path toward growth parallels the beginnings of

Greene County Health Care (GCHC) and offers an opportunity for today’s leaders to position the organization for growth. 

CEO Melissa Torres announced recently that Greene County Health Care is now officially Contentnea Health. She said leaders have started the internal and external processes of changing the organization’s name. The community should start seeing changes this summer, Torres says. 

 “There’s just a beautiful parallel in our history that can be found in Contentnea Creek,” says Dr. Holly Warren, a Greene County native and internal medicine doctor at GCHC. “Greene County Health Care started as an idea that people in Greene County should have access to medical care in their county. From that idea, leaders in North Carolina and Wilson and Greene counties created Walstonburg Community Health Program (WCHP).” (As a result, WCHP presented the first clinic to the public April 8, 1973, in Walstonburg.) 

Today, Contentnea Health operates sites that offer medical, dental and mental health care in Greene, Pitt and Pamlico counties.  

“Contentnea is an inclusive name that honors and preserves our history while not limiting us to a specific geographic area,” Torres says. “The name Contentnea and our new logo represent our three counties and shows a forward motion.”

“The truth is Contentnea Creek has long been a source of food, water and recreation for Greene County,” says Board Chairman Bobby Nimmo. “This name and the new logo truly embody our history and prepare us for growth. We’re excited about the next leg of this journey.” 

“As Greene County Health Care, we were always in a growth path,” says Torres. “We’ve expanded services and found new ways to be innovative in delivering care.” 

Contentnea Health operates five clinics in the three-county area and a school-based clinic in Greene Central High School. The organization also uses mobile units to offer primary dental care to elementary students on site in Greene in Pitt counties, and medical care to farmworkers and other members of the community. Contentnea Health also offers telehealth for some patients. 

“We recently started a project with the Pitt County Schools to expand school-based services,” Torres says. The school system announced last week they will house those services at J.H. Rose High School. “This is a first step in our growth path as Contentnea Health,” Torres says. “We will continue looking for new ways to innovate, expand services and develop partnerships to best serve the health care needs of our communities.” 

Contentnea Health (Contentnea) provides medical, dental and mental health care for the entire family from locations in Greene, Pitt and Pamlico counties. Contentnea Health’s mission is to provide compassionate, quality care every day to all people. Contentnea’s vision is healthy people, healthy families and healthy communities. Contentnea Health is an equal opportunity health care provider and does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability or insurance status.