Novant and Atrium both want to add a high-tech medical device. NC will choose who gets it

The largest hospitals systems in the Charlotte region are competing for approval by the state to have a 3D body scanner costing several million dollars.

Rivals Atrium Health and Novant Health are offering proposals to the state’s Health Department to operate a fixed Positron Emission Tomography scanner in Mecklenburg County. The device produces images of organs and tissues with a radioactive chemical. It can also detect diseases such as cancer.

Charlotte-based Atrium Health and Novant Health, headquartered in Winston-Salem, filed Certificate of Need applications with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The PET scanner is listed as a need for the area in the 2024 State Medical Facilities Plan.

If two or more hospitals are competing, state regulators will review each application to see if it meets CON requirements, before officials select one for approval.

N.C. law prohibits health care providers from acquiring, replacing or adding to their facilities and equipment, except in certain circumstances, without approval from the state. Approval is also required for certain medical services to help control increasing health care costs and to make sure services are not duplicated.

The proposals

▪ Atrium wants to add a PET scanner in a medical office building on the main campus of its Pineville Hospital. Atrium’s project is expected to cost $4.3 million and would be completed in April 2026, according to DHHS.

▪ Novant and its Presbyterian Hospital is competing to have a PET scanner at the Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte. The project is expected to cost $7.4 million and would be complete in December 2026.

What’s next?

A public hearing for the dueling projects is scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 14 in the Randolph Room, Allegra Westbrooks Regional Library , 2412 Beatties Ford Road, Charlotte.

Anyone may file written comments concerning this proposal. Comments must be received by the Healthcare Planning and Certificate of Need Section no later than 5 p.m. Oct. 31.

Comments may be submitted as an attachment to an email if they are sent to DHSR.CON.Comments@dhhs.nc.gov. Residents may also mail comments to: Healthcare Planning and Certificate of Need Section, Division of Health Service Regulation, 2704 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-2704.

The agency has from 90 to 150 days to review CON applications after they are submitted. If there are no appeals during the process, a CON is issued for the project.