North Carolina Children’s Health (NC Children’s), a partnership between Chapel Hill-based UNC Health and Durham-based Duke Health, has chosen the location for its comprehensive healthcare campus featuring the Carolinas’ first freestanding, independent children’s hospital.
NC Children’s will be built on approximately 230 acres of land in Apex, UNC and Duke said in a July 10 joint news release.
The news comes months after the institutions announced the partnership in January. At the time, they did not disclose the location, only that NC Children’s will feature a 500-bed children’s hospital at a yet-to-be-identified site in the Research Triangle region.
When complete, NC Children’s will feature the hospital as well as a children’s outpatient care center, 103 children and adolescent behavioral health beds, and a research and education enterprise backed by the UNC and Duke medical schools, according to the institutions. The project is projected to bring 8,000 jobs to Apex and Wake County.
“We are incredibly excited to confirm Apex and Wake County as the home for NC Children’s,” Wesley Burks, MD, CEO of UNC Health and dean of the UNC School of Medicine, said in the release. “This campus will create a brighter, healthier future for generations of children and adolescents across North Carolina and the Southeast, and we’re thrilled to have Apex as our home and partner.”
Duke and UNC officials said NC Children’s will be integrated into Veridea, a more than 1,000-acre mixed-use community in Apex, created by RXR. The community features 8,000 new homes, 3.5 million square feet of retail and dining, 12 million square feet of office and research space, and a new Wake Tech Community College campus.
“Finding the right home for NC Children’s was among our top priorities, and this location offers the space and access required for a world-class children’s hospital,” Craig Albanese, MD, CEO of Duke Health, said in the release. “From the moment children and families enter the campus, they will know they are in a place built just for them. Most importantly, children with the most complex health issues will have access to the most highly specialized pediatric services — right here in the heart of North Carolina.”
The NC Children’s team July 10 is issuing a request for qualifications to design and construction contractors for the project, Duke and UNC said. The team anticipates a groundbreaking in 2027 and approximately six years of construction. Duke and UNC expect the project to cost $2 billion to $3 billion.
