UnitedHealthcare has announced a new network relationship with Pinehurst Surgical, giving UnitedHealthcare employer and individual plan participants access to care provided by Pinehurst Surgical’s multispecialty facilities and physicians.

Pinehurst Surgical has been serving the health care needs of local residents including those in 15 surrounding counties since 1946. The group, which is composed of 40 physicians, provides a wide range of specialties, including vascular and vein, general, spine and interventional pain, women’s care, orthopaedic and joint replacement, ear, nose, throat, audiology, urologic, and plastic and reconstructive.

“Our patients have been asking us to join the UnitedHealthcare network and we are excited to be able to honor their request by partnering with UnitedHealthcare,” said Ward Oakley, M.D., president of Pinehurst Surgical. “We want to be able to provide convenient and easy access to meet the health care needs of patients within the community.”

“We look forward to working with Pinehurst Surgical to deliver on our joint commitment to provide broad access to quality, cost-effective health care for our customers in the Pinehurst area,” said Garland Scott, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual of North Carolina. “Pinehurst Surgical is an important provider of health care services, and we know our customers appreciate having local access to the practice’s specialty services.”

United Healthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company, serves more than 900,000 residents across North Carolina with a health care network of 123 hospitals and more than 18,000 physicians and practitioners statewide.