On October 20, 2026, Winston-Salem-based Novant Health launched Novant Health Virtual Men's Health. It is a telehealth service that lets men anywhere in North Carolina get evaluated and treated for erectile dysfunction and other sexual health concerns without going to a clinic. Novant runs hospitals and physician practices across the Southeast. The service is staffed by lead physician Dr. John Schwabe and physician assistant Victor Pereira, PA-C. They review symptoms, do a "comprehensive evaluation," and refer patients on to other clinicians or in-person care when needed. Appointments run Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and are booked through MyChart or Novant's virtual-care site.

Why It Matters

Hims & Hers, Ro and BlueChew built the ED-telehealth market on a simple idea: men will pay cash to skip the awkward in-person visit. Health systems are now taking that idea back, and they have advantages the DTC brands don't. They already have the patient relationship through MyChart, the chart history, and an easy referral path to urology or cardiology. That matters because ED is often an early warning sign of cardiovascular disease, a point [JOE's 'Listen to Jordic' campaign](/stories/listen-to-jordic-ed-heart-campaign) made on World Heart Day. A health-system clinic can act on that in a way a subscription pill service mostly doesn't. The trade-off is convenience. Weekday office hours and two clinicians are a long way from the 24/7, ship-in-two-days model, and Novant has not said whether its services are covered by insurance or cash-pay. The DTC brands are also under pressure: Hims is facing [an FTC data-privacy suit](/stories/hims-ftc-data-privacy-lawsuit) and shareholder class actions, and Ro is leaning on celebrity marketing for [compounded drops](/stories/ro-sparks-megan-fox-campaign). In that market, "your own hospital's doctor, privately" is a real competitive pitch. The thing to watch is whether other large systems copy the format. If they do, men's sexual health moves from a lifestyle-brand category into ordinary health-system service lines.

Novant's release is explicit about the pitch: men are "often less likely to seek medical care," and the service is meant to be "a private, approachable option." "Sexual wellness issues like erectile dysfunction can have a meaningful impact on a man's health and quality of life," Schwabe said. "That's why it's important for patients to have convenient, flexible options for how they receive care." Becker's Hospital Review and Wilmington's WWAY both covered the launch. Neither Novant nor the coverage mentions pricing, whether insurance applies, or which drugs or devices the clinic will prescribe.

Sources

Update — 2026-10-21

Initial entry — story first created.