Transylvania Regional Hospital: The community's center for diverse, advanced care

I wish everyone in our community a happy new year, and as we contemplate our goals and wishes for 2026, it’s an ideal time for me to provide an overview of Transylvania Regional Hospital’s (TRH) services. Since many of us include intentions for making healthier choices in the coming year, I want to let readers know that as your community hospital, we work to always be your partners in care and here when you need us.

As I speak with patients and community members, they often express just how important they feel that having advanced health care close to home is, and I understand that. This is why we are always striving to enhance the services we offer.

Though we always have our eye on how best to serve and grow with the community, here are some of the important care service we offer that might be helpful as you make your healthcare decisions in the coming year, remembering the importance of your primary care and screening appointments.

• Diabetes Management is necessary for many, and it has multiple impacts on a person’s health and body function if not managed appropriately.
• Transitional Care is short-term skilled care that helps patients facing barriers to access needed follow up care, such as a person who has had orthopedic surgery and needs rehabilitations services but doesn’t have transportation to easily get back and forth to TRH.
• Swing Bed Services are similar to transitional care but are designed for patients with more complex needs. We are proud to receive referrals from other health systems and are able to serve these patients.
• Surgical Services encompassing orthopedics, general surgery, gynecology, and ophthalmology. When possible, we perform minimally invasive procedures, which are associated with faster healing, less pain, scarring, and bleeding, and a reduced chance of post-surgical infection.
• Endoscopy Services, which enable your physician to diagnose and treat digestive tract and other conditions — without the need for surgery.
• Cardiology Services include sophisticated testing for diagnosing and treating heart conditions like heart disease, heart failure, heart attack, arrhythmias (heartbeat irregularities), and more. Cardiac Rehabilitation Services offer patients recovering from heart attacks and living with heart conditions education, counseling, and a place to exercise and connect with other patients.
• Rehab Services, including physical and occupational therapy, which promote optimal movement, flexibility, balance, and independent functioning. Speech therapy addresses swallowing difficulties and verbal communication challenges.
• Wound and Foot Care, a specialty where providers must be specially trained to treat patients, such as people living with diabetes, who have slow-healing wounds.
• Pharmacy Services allow our patients to be prescribed the correct medications and promptly begin their regimens.
• Imaging Services are critical to diagnosing and treating patients. We have a robust array of modalities that include computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diagnostic X-ray, nuclear medicine, and ultrasound, as well as sophisticated breast imaging, including advanced 3D mammography and ABUS for dense breast tissue.
• Lab Services allow for seamless care at TRH, so any tests ordered by providers for a patient can be processed quickly and a customized treatment plan can be designed quickly for them.
• Sleep Disorder Treatment Services to diagnose and treat problems like insomnia and sleep apnea.
• Outpatient Behavioral Health Services — our Fresh Start program offers patients with Medicare psychiatric evaluations, individual and group therapy opportunities, help with medication management, and more. This service also includes transportation to and from the hospital.

We are honored to offer this high-quality, wide-ranging care to our community members, and I hear repeatedly how much accessibility means to them. These services, our compassionate caregivers and staff, and carefully planned growth that’s responsive to community needs are what set us apart as the community care hub of Transylvania County — and beyond.

We have always been a stable and reassuring presence for our neighbors and will continue to be there for them. Our unique understanding of this community’s healthcare needs fuels our work and amplifies our dedication to serving you throughout 2026 and for generations to come.

Michele Pilon, MS, BSN, RN, NE-BC, is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Nursing Officer of Transylvania Regional Hospital. Her diverse professional experience includes service as a bedside nurse and over a decade as a leader at healthcare institutions in Virginia, Florida, and North Carolina. Ms. Pilon earned a Bachelor’s in Nursing from Ohio’s University of Akron and a Master’s in Health Services Administration from the University of St. Francis in Illinois; she is also a Board-Certified Nursing Executive.