UNC, Duke, Novant and WakeMed all want to add more hospital beds in Wake County

Four health care systems are vying for a chance to build hospitals or expand facilities in Wake County .

Why it matters: The systems' applications call for more than a billion dollars in investments in the county and propose adding hospitals in fast-growing towns like Wake Forest, Garner and Knightdale.

Between the lines: But what is approved will likely be significantly less, as the hospitals must win approval for a certificate of need from the state's Department of Health and Human Services, which tightly regulates how many hospital beds can be added or removed in the state.

• The state's 2024 State Medical Facilities Plan , for instance, says there is a need for 70 additional hospital beds in Wake County.

Driving the news: In response, UNC Health, Duke Health, WakeMed and Novant Health submitted applications to the state to build new facilities.

• Those applications are being reviewed now and a public hearing on the matter will be in October.
• This would be the first facility in the Triangle for Novant, which has a major presence in the Triad and Charlotte regions.

Here's what's proposed:

UNC Health

UNC Health's two applications propose building a 50-bed hospital in Wake Forest and 20 additional beds and two new operating rooms at its UNC Health Rex Hospital campus.

• If approved, the Wake Forest hospital would cost around $462 million to build, have two operating rooms and be located on 50 acres of land at the intersection of Capital Boulevard and Stadium Drive, according to UNC Health.
• UNC Health is already expanding in the Triangle, with a recently opened hospital in Holly Springs and a planned hospital in Research Triangle Park.

What they're saying: "Our proposals will allow us to meet the growing health care needs of our community and begin to alleviate our current capacity constraints," Kirsten Riggs, interim president of UNC Health Rex, said in a statement.

Duke Health

Duke has put forward three applications to the state, including one that calls for a new hospital in Garner and one for expanding its planned hospital in Cary.

• The Garner application seeks to build an acute-care hospital with 12 beds at an estimated price of $205 million.
• The Cary application asks to expand an already approved hospital in Cary by 17 beds, bringing the total hospital to 57 beds and a price tag north of $400 million.
• The third application asks to expand its Raleigh hospital by 41 beds.

Duke declined to comment on the applications.

WakeMed

WakeMed's three applications for a certificate of need all focus on its existing facilities in Wake County, including:

• 25 additional beds at WakeMed North, which was already approved earlier this year for 35 new beds. It also asks for two more operating rooms and two more procedure rooms.
• 21 new beds and two new operating rooms at its main Raleigh campus.
• And 24 additional beds at its WakeMed Cary location.

WakeMed has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Novant Health

Novant Health's sole application calls for the construction of a hospital in Knightdale in Eastern Wake County.

• The application proposes a 36-bed hospital with one operating room and a cost estimate of $287 million.
• Novant would buy land near the interchange of Hodge Road and I-87 if the application is approved, according to the Triangle Business Journal .

What they're saying: "We've been caring for patients in the Triangle for many years and are eager to build on what we've already established by offering new specialized services delivered by compassionate experts," a spokesperson for Novant said in an email.

What's next: DHHS will review the applications for several months before deciding on which health system to grant a certificate of need.

• The time between that decision and the construction of a facility, however, can be long, as competing health systems often appeal the decision.
• A UNC Health hospital that was approved for Research Triangle Park in 2021, for instance, is still in the appeals process, the Triangle Business Journal reported .

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