Doctors at the Peachview Medical Park have reached an agreement to practice under the umbrella of Novant Health, a health care group with partial ownership in Upstate Carolina Medical Center (UCMC).

Physicians within the hospital's first major medical facility in Gaffney include Dr. Rick Ruffing, Dr. Susan Bland, Dr. Charles Stroup, Dr. Frank Barnhill, Dr. Todd Morgan and Dr. Scott Klosterman. Their combined practices care for 40 percent of Cherokee County patients.

The Peachview Medical Park physicians were previously part of Mary Black Physicians Group, the largest multi-speciality group in the area. In October, 2008, Mary Black Memorial Hospital in Spartanburg exercised its contractual rights to end its relationship with the doctors.

Peachview currently has six doctors and 25 staff members.

It has doubled in size since it opened in 1997. The medical facility now offers primary care, extended hour care, laboratory and radiology areas, in-house lab services, general surgery and occupational medicine.

"I just want to make sure the doctors are OK," said Upstate Carolina Medical Center Administrator Joe Howell after Mary Black made its announcement. "They are Cherokee County physicians. Whatever happens, they are the ones who drive health care."

Howell could not be reached for comment before press time Monday.

The building in which the doctors practice is owned by a real estate company and was leased by Mary Black Memorial Hospital. It was unclear what would happen to that arrangement once the hospital ends its affiliation with the medical park.

A little more than a quarter interest in UCMC was sold in early April 2008 to a North Carolina-based nonprofit hospital group as part of a $300 million deal affecting seven hospitals owned by the local hospital's parent company.

Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates Inc., a publicly traded company that operates 58 hospitals including UCMC, sold a 27-percent stake in seven of its hospitals to Winston Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health

HMA remains in charge of day-to-day management of the seven hospitals involved while a joint governance board comprised of both HMA and Novant Health officials will be formed to give the hospitals guidance.

Novant Health operates nine hospitals, an 830-physician medical group, two nursing homes, 130 outpatient facilities and has a sizable presence in the Charlotte, N.C., region, where it operates the 531-bed Presbyterian Hospital.

As part of its deal with HMA, it has acquired stakes in Davis Regional Medical Center in Statesville, N.C., Lake Norman Regional Medical Center in Mooresville, N.C., Franklin Regional Medical Center in Louisburg, N.C., Sandhills Regional Medical Center in Hamlet, N.C., Chester Regional Medical Center in Chester, Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center in Hartsville, and Upstate Carolina Medical Center.

Altogether, these seven community hospitals consist of 711 beds.