In 1986, Dr. Arthur Vernon Stringer and Dr. Vanessa Haygood moved
to Greensboro, NC, leaving their 8 year affiliation with Duke University
Medical Center, to join the employee physician staff at Moses Cone
Hospital. After two years in these positions, they decided
to open a private Ob-Gyn practice. Central Carolina Ob-Gyn
opened its doors in August of 1988, with its founders excited about
the opportunity to offer “Personalized Quality Care” to
the women of Greensboro.
The couple practiced for seven years together before adding another
practitioner in the person of Shelley (Foster) Duplantis. Shelley
had a vision of returning to her birthplace in Angola to work as
a Certified Nurse Midwife, but wanted to work in Greensboro for
a year or two to hone her skills after completing midwifery school. That
marked the birth of the Nurse Midwifery service at CCOB. Over
the next 11 years, the service grew to its present complement of
five nurse midwives.
It was in May of 2006, that Shelley saw her vision realized as
she returned to Angola to work as a medical missionary along with
her husband and her father. The nurse midwifery service remains
a vibrant part of CCOB, with a dynamic team of Certified Nurse
Midwives who provide prenatal care, in-hospital vaginal births,
and health maintenance gynecologic care. The current members of that team are Vicki Latham, Hilary Steelman, Marie Williams, and our newest addition, Janna Melsness. Together,
they represent more than a quarter century of experience in nurse
midwifery, as well as skills as diverse as hospital administration,
intensive care nursing, teaching and hypnosis training.
The physician portion of the practice has likewise grown to the
current staff of five. Dr. Naima Dillard, Dr. Sandra Rivard,
and Dr. Angela Roberts are the newest partners to join Dr Haygood
and Dr. Stringer. All are board certified and provide
care for patients with low risk and high risk pregnancies, general
gynecologic conditions, and infertility. Dr. Roberts' special interest in female urinary incontinence and Dr. Rivard's experience in tubal sterilization reversal and robotic surgery add yet another opportunity for personalizing care for patients with these concerns.
Elmira Powell, Certified Physician Assistant, joined CCOB in 1999. Her background in health education, training in the use of bioidentical hormone therapy, and well developed skills as a surgical assistant make for a busy office and hospital practice. The addition of Carol Armer in 2002 allowed our gynecological patients to benefit from her dual training as a Family Nurse Practitioner and as a Certified Nurse Midwife, providing primary preventive and acute problem-based care .
The organizational status of CCOB underwent a transition in January 2003 when it became a division of a larger corporation, Piedmont Healthcare for Women. This new entity has allowed the CCOB division to take advantage of the camaraderie of 20 other Ob Gyn physicians as well as some of the economies of scale afforded larger practices. These features all make today’s CCOB well positioned to continue offering the “Personalized Quality Care” that has been our hallmark for the last 22 years.
Updated 01/21/10