JULY 6, 2001

Health Care News

Hospitals apply for major expansions
Several more hospitals are seeking approval from state officials for expansions or modernizations, and public hearings on the proposals have been scheduled by the Certificate of Need Section of the N.C. Division of Facility Services. Two weeks ago we ran a list of hospital expansions that were then on the docket. Since then these other proposals have begun awaiting state approval:

Pitt County Memorial Hospital seeks permission to modify a previously approved project to construct a new 50-bed intensive care unit to treat sick newborn babies. A public hearing for this project will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14, at Pitt Community College, in Room 209 of the Humber Building. The hospital proposes to restructure the project to provide an additional 3,332 square feet of space for a larger waiting room, more storage and support spaces and a new second story for office space. The hospital projects an additional $7.7 million will be added to the previously approved $8 million for a total cost of $15.8 million.

FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital seeks permission to renovate space and relocate the hospital’s psychiatric program. A public hearing for this project will be held on Thursday, Aug. 9, at 1:30 p.m. at Sandhills Community College, Room 202 of the Van Dusen Building, 2200 Airport Road, Pinehurst.  The hospital proposes the $6.1-million project to renovate the former Tufts medical unit to accommodate a 24-bed inpatient psychiatric unit, the psychiatric partial hospitalization program, and the Pinehurst Behavioral Services offices. The former Jackson medical unit will be renovated to accommodate the Behavioral Services Outpatient Clinic. Upon completion of the relocation, the vacated mental health building will be demolished.

Central Carolina Hospital seeks permission to undertake a $6.2-million project to modernize the Department of Obstetrics. A public hearing for this project will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 10, in the Commissioner’s Room, Lee County Government Center, 106 Hillcrest Drive, Sanford.  CCH proposes to increase the size of the rooms used for labor delivery and recovery, build a new C-section suite, enlarge the nursery area, reorganize the nurses station and support areas, construct two separate on-call rooms for physicians, and create a conference room for staff education.

Johnston Memorial Hospital seeks permission to acquire cardiac catheterization equipment to be located at the hospital in Smithfield. A public hearing for this project will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 15, at the Public Library, 305 Market St., Smithfield. The $2.1-million proposal includes the acquisition of one unit of cardiac catheterization equipment and the construction of a cardiac catheterization laboratory adjacent to the outpatient surgery area, which is currently under construction. Cardiologists perform cardiac catheterization procedures in order to study the heart and the arteries that supply blood to the heart.

East Carolina Health-Chowan, a subsidiary of University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina, seeks permission to renovate and modernize the second floor of the hospital and acquire some new equipment. A public hearing for this project will be held on Thursday, Aug. 16, at 10:30 a.m. in the second floor Commissioners Room at the Chowan County Courthouse, Broad Street, Edenton. In this $4.1 million project, Chowan will reduce the number of hospital beds from 71 to 49 by converting semi-private rooms to private rooms. The hospital will also install bathrooms that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and convert four beds presently used for mothers after delivery of their babies to rooms in which the mother stays during labor, delivery and after delivery. Chowan also proposes renovating its pharmacy.


Three hospitals compete to acquire PET scanner
Three hospitals have filed competing applications to acquire a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, which uses a computer and radiation detectors to analyze body functions in response to radioactive tracers to diagnose certain cancers and brain impairments. The 2001 State Medical Facilities Plan identifies a need for one additional PET scanner in the region which includes Wake, Orange, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Chatham, Franklin, Person, Granville, Vance and Warren counties.

Duke University Health System proposes to acquire a second PET scanner that will be located on the hospital campus at a cost of $3.2 million. Rex Hospital proposes to acquire a PET scanner and locate it on the hospital campus at a cost of $3.4 million. Wake Radiology Services in conjunction with WakeMed propose to acquire a PET scanner to be located in Cary at a cost of $2.7 million.

A public hearing for these projects will be conducted by the Certificate of Need Section of the N.C. Division of Facility Services at 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 13, in the Council Building, 701 Barbour Drive, on Dorothea Dix Campus, Raleigh.

Hospitals vie for new MRI scanner
Cape Fear Diagnostic Imaging, Columbus County Hospital and New Hanover Regional Medical Center have filed competing applications to acquire a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The 2001 State Medical Facilities Plan identifies a need for one additional MRI scanner in the region which includes Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, New Hanover and Pender counties.

Cape Fear Diagnostic Imaging proposes to acquire an MRI to be located in a diagnostic center in Wilmington at a cost of $2.2 million. Columbus County Hospital proposes to acquire an MRI to be located at the Hospital in Whiteville at a cost of $2.7 million. New Hanover Regional Medical Center proposes to acquire an MRI to be located at the Medical Center in Wilmington at a cost of $2.4 million.