DUNN, N.C. – Dec. 3, 2021 – A new Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT) clinic opening in Dunn next week will be the first of its kind in a decade, and the only ENT clinic in Harnett County. Harnett Health Ear, Nose, and Throat opens Monday, Dec. 6, at 805-A Tilghman Drive, near Betsy Johnson Hospital. A special ribbon cutting ceremony with the Dunn Area Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 20.
“One of the services our community told us they really wanted in Harnett County was an ENT clinic closer to home,” said Harnett Health President Cory Hess. “We listened, and now we’re very excited to be able to say the ENT clinic is here. It’s going to be a relief for many patients who can now get a referral to an ENT specialist that they don’t have to travel out of the county to see and who they won’t have to wait a month to get an appointment with.”
The clinic’s main physician is Otolaryngologist Albino Chiodo, MD, FRCSC. He is currently taking referrals for adult and pediatric patients ages 5 and up, and will begin seeing patients Monday. The clinic will also be staffed with Physician Assistant Lonnie Scholl.
“Dr. Chiodo’s a welcome addition to our team,” Hess said. “His approach is focused on quality service that matches his outstanding skills.”
Initially, the clinic will be focused on sinus issues and surgery, neck cancer, and inner ear issues, performing procedures such as tonsillectomies, adenoid removal, nasal and sinus endoscopy, eardrum repair and reconstruction, nasal septum repair, and ear tubes for adult and pediatric patients over the age of 5, as well as other issues. All of these procedures require referrals.
Several of the procedures the clinic offers can be done on-site, such as balloon sinuplasty, coblation for nasal breathing or snoring, ear tubes for adults, needle biopsies for neck masses or thyroid lumps, biopsies of nasal or oral legions, and removal of facial skin cancers.
By next summer, the clinic expects to also begin accepting self-referrals for allergy and audiology complaints, such as allergy testing, hearing aid testing, and immunotherapy shots.
Albino Chiodo, M.D.
Dr. Chiodo received his medical degree from University of Toronto, and his general surgery training at Brown University Surgical Program. He received otolaryngology-head and neck surgery training at University of Toronto and completed a research fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in the Department of Plastic Surgery, Toronto.
Most recently, Dr. Chiodo was Otolaryngologist-in-Chief at Toronto East Health Network, as well as an Associate Professor at University of Toronto’s medical school. Before beginning his practice in Toronto in 1998, he worked for a year as a staff surgeon at Colleton Medical Center in Walterboro, S.C.
In Harnett County, he will also be joining Campbell University’s medical education program.
Clinic hours
Harnett Health Ear, Nose, and Throat is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and from 7:30 a.m. to noon on Fridays. To schedule an appointment, call (910) 230-7900.
Media contact for Cape Fear Valley: Chaka Jordan, 910-615-6098 or [email protected].
About Cape Fear Valley Health System
Cape Fear Valley is a 1,000+ bed, 8-hospital regional health system, with more than 1 million inpatient and outpatients annually. A private not-for-profit organization with 7,400 employees and 1,300 physicians on our medical staff, it includes Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Highsmith-Rainey Specialty Hospital, Cape Fear Valley Rehabilitation Center, Behavioral Health Care, Bladen County Hospital, Hoke Hospital, Health Pavilion North, Health Pavilion Hoke and Harnett Health. For more information, visitwww.CapeFearValley.com.