Beaufort Memorial Hospital has added a board-certified gastroenterologist with more than 25 years’ experience to the medical staff at Lowcountry Medical Group.

Marc D. New, M.D., is now seeing patients at the multispecialty practice at 300 Midtown Dr., near the Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

Prior to joining the BMH team, Dr. New was in private practice for 18 years at Elms Digestive Disease Specialists in North Charleston. He began his career as a partner in a doctors’ clinic in Vero Beach, Fla., and was a sole proprietor for two years in Port St. Lucie and Stuart, Fla., before moving to South Carolina.

Dr. New graduated from the College of Charleston in 1984 and went on to earn his doctorate in medicine from the Medical University of South Carolina.

He completed his residency in internal medicine at Emory University and his fellowship training in gastroenterology in 1993 at the Medical College of Georgia.

For more information on the practice, visit www.beaufortmemorial.org.

  • A Red Cross blood drive and fundraiser will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 20 at Curves of Bluffton, 365 Red Cedar St., Suite 302.

The Blood Mobile will be onsite for blood donors.

Additionally, a variety of classes and workouts will be offered for a $5 donation to the Red Cross.

For more information or to schedule a blood donation, call 843-706-2844.

  • Medicare beneficiaries in Southeast Georgia and the South Carolina Lowcountry have a new Medicare Advantage plan option available during this year’s open enrollment period.

Eon Health and Memorial University Medical Center (MUMC) have partnered to provide a plan that includes zero-dollar premiums and pharmacy benefits with reduced co-pays.

Eon Health’s Medicare Advantage plans will be available to beneficiaries in Chatham and Bryan counties in Georgia and in Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton and Colleton counties in South Carolina, beginning Jan. 1, 2017. They include Special Needs Plans for chronically ill and dually eligible beneficiaries. Enrollment is currently underway.

Other benefit highlights in the plan include: Reduced co-pays for specialist and primary care provider visits; hospital benefits; no referrals required to see an in-network provider; transportation benefit (available on select plans); Silver Sneakers Fitness program; dental benefits; over-the-counter benefits allowance; hearing; and member rewards program.

To enroll in one of Eon Health’s Medicare Advantage plans, call the Eon Health sales department at 844-895-9050 or enroll online at www.eonhealth plan.com.

  • Beaufort Memorial swept the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) 2016 Certified Zero Harm Awards, winning three awards and special recognition for preventing post-surgery infections.

The 197-bed hospital was one of only two health care facilities in South Carolina to report no hospital-acquired infections for 42 consecutive months in two of five categories. BMH also earned special recognition in two categories – more than any other hospital in the state – for performing the highest number of infection-free abdominal hysterectomies (363) and colon surgeries (181).

SCHA created the Zero Harm Awards program in 2013 to recognize hospitals that have taken great strides to improve quality of care and patient safety.