The board of trustees for Novant Health, a Winston-Salem, N.C.-based system with 19 hospitals, has approved construction plans expected to cost upward of $1 billion to meet patient demand in Southeast North Carolina.
The project includes a heart and vascular patient tower, an additional heart and vascular medical office building, a physical rehabilitation hospital and a reconfiguration of two floors at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C.
In a Feb. 12 news release, Novant said the new facilities are designed to fulfill increasing demand for heart and vascular services, particularly as the 65-and-older population grows, as well as meet growing needs for inpatient rehabilitation services.
The new patient tower will consolidate inpatient and surgical heart and vascular care in one facility, and Novant said it plans to open the tower in 2031. The system is also planning a second office building for heart and vascular services, as the existing outpatient facility is at capacity.
The tower will take the place of Novant Health’s New Hanover Rehabilitation Hospital in Wilmington, which the system said will be rebuilt with 60 private rooms on a 15-acre campus.
At New Hanover Regional, the ground and first floors “will be reconfigured to optimize clinical space, supporting expansions in needed areas such as endoscopy and surgical services,” the release said.
Novant Health said it expects the project to take five to seven years. The system added it will seek necessary state review and approval.
