Does anyone even remember the name of the second man to walk on the moon?

The question is posed on the cover of a brochure promoting "Beverly Hospital at Danvers," the new medical and day surgery center that opened near the intersection of Routes 1 and 62 this week.

The response, found when you turn the page: Being first does matter. At least those behind the project hope it does.

In effect, officials at Northeast Health System, parent company of Beverly and Gloucester's Addison-Gilbert hospitals, have served notice that they are ready to compete with giants Partners HealthCare and Burlington-based Lahey Clinic, both of which also have plans to expand their presence on the North Shore.

Partners, parent company of Salem's North Shore Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital, is in the midst of building a new outpatient and day surgery center on Endicott Street in Danvers; while Lahey is in the final stages of obtaining permits for an expansion of its hospital behind the Northshore Mall in Peabody.

But Northeast, as the brochure states, is first to the market with the opening of its $30-million, 99,000-square-foot facility at the base of the hill formerly occupied by Danvers State Hospital. They hope its location will attract patients from Danvers north along the Route 1 and I-95 corridors.

This competition for the health-care dollar poses a challenge for the companies that are staking a claim here. But it should be a boom for consumers who, after watching one community hospital after another close its doors in recent decades, will have all kinds of choices once again when it comes to getting an MRI or CT scan, finding a pediatrician or undergoing simple surgical procedures.

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By the way, the second man to walk on the moon was Buzz Aldrin, who emerged from the Apollo 11's hatch about 18 minutes after Neil Armstrong made history on July 20, 1969.