JUNE 22, 2001

Health Care

Public hearings planning on expansions by several hospitals
Several public hearings are planned around the state in coming week on proposals by several hospitals for major expansions. The proceedings are being conducted by the N.C. Division of Facility Services, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, which is empowered to regulate hospital expansions under the state’s Certificate of Need law. Most of the projects reflect the state’s growing population and greater need for health services. The projects are:

Forsyth Medical Center and Novant Health Inc. have filed an application to expand and renovate their women’s services. A public hearing for this project will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 11, in the Guilford Agriculture Center in Greensboro. The $29-million proposal will address space constraints on the inpatient nursing units, establish an entrance to the Women’s Center, add capacity to labor and delivery, consolidate inpatient Women’s Services and nurseries, expand capacity for community/consumer education, and move non-patient services away from patient care floors. The proposed project includes 81,500 square feet of new construction and 88,400 square feet of renovations.

NorthEast Medical Center in Concord has filed an application to modernize and expand several hospital departments. A public hearing for this project will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17, in the Auditorium of the Cabarets County Public Library in Concord. The $52.6-million proposal includes renovation and expansion of the maternity and obstetrical services in the Mariam Cannon Hayes Family Center, and a two-story addition to the hospital’s clinical services building. The proposed expansion of the maternity and obstetrical services includes the addition of four labor-delivery-recovery (LDR) rooms, one C-Section procedure room, 17 post-partum rooms, six ante partum beds, a multi-purpose education room, women’s library, lactation service area, family waiting area, staff lounge and lockers, physician offices, and administrative space. The two-story addition to the clinical services building will include 28 pediatric beds, a five-bed pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), 15 intensive care unit (ICU) beds and 28 medical/surgical beds. The proposed project includes 97,000 square feet of new construction and 25,000 square feet of renovations.

Murphy Medical Center has applied to construct new space for its radiology department and acquire additional radiology equipment.  A public hearing for this project will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 17, in the Pack Memorial Library in Asheville. Murphy Medical Center proposes to construct 14,000 square feet of space for an expanded radiology department and to purchase a nuclear medicine gamma camera, computer workstations and general radiographic equipment for a total of $5.4 million.

Moses Cone Health System has filed an application to renovate Wesley Long Community Hospital. A public hearing for this project will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 11, in the Guilford County Agriculture Center in Greensboro.  Moses Cone proposes to develop a day hospital on the first floor of Wesley Long and to modernize the existing inpatient units on floors two through six for a cost of $22.5 million. Moses Cone also proposes to move 46 hospital beds from Wesley Long to The Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital. In addition, Moses Cone proposes to eliminate the six-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit at Wesley Long and the six-bed, inpatient hospice unit at Moses Cone. Inpatient rehabilitation services will continue to be provided in the 49 beds located at Moses Cone. Moses Cone will provide palliative services for cancer patients at Wesley Long in acute care beds.

Catawba Memorial Hospital in Hickory has applied to construct new space for its emergency department and other renovations to the hospital.  A public hearing for this project will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, July 16, in Winkler Activity Center in Hickory. Catawba Memorial proposes to construct 5,000 square feet of space and renovate 23,000 square feet of space for an expanded emergency room. The hospital also will renovate a total of 13,000 square feet on the patient floors to accommodate the rehab gym, chemotherapy and other ancillary services for a total of $7.8 million.

Alamance Regional Hospital has filed an application to construct an addition to the existing hospital and to renovate existing space. A public hearing for this project will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 11, in the Guilford Agriculture Center in Greensboro. The $7.9-million proposal will include a two-level addition and a basement. The first level will expand the emergency department and provide space for centralized patient registration. The second level will provide additional support space for surgery and endoscopy and the basement will expand education space. The proposed project includes 16,790 square feet of new construction and 24,570 square feet of renovations.