55.5 F
Wrightsville Beach
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

NHRMC considering new facility in Mayfaire, Autumn Hall area

Must read

In the annual state of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC) presentation on Wednesday, CEO Jack Barto said the region’s hospital system was planning to build a new facility closer to the Wrightsville Beach area.

Barto said the NHRMC is looking for land in the Mayfaire or Autumn Hall area to build a new freestanding emergency department that would meet the growing needs of residents in the eastern part of the county. He said the hospital system was working on a 3-5 year timeline for the new facility.

The newly built facility would come after the 68 beds of the NHRMC Orthopedic Hospital at the Cape Fear Campus at 5301 Wrightsville Ave. are moved to the hospital’s main campus on 17th Street. While the emergency department at the Cape Fear Campus will remain open, Barto said NHRMC was looking to move those services to the new facility, along with other lab and medical services. The facility could also offer some of the urgent-care services currently offered at the NHRMC Urgent Care Center at 1135 Military Cutoff Road.

In his address at the Holiday Inn Resort in Wrightsville Beach, Barto laid out several proposed projects to expand the hospital group, including doubling the size of the emergency department at the main campus  at 2131 S. 17th St.

Barto touted the recent success of the local hospital, which he said is boosting the local economy and offering services that are competitive with medical centers in the Triangle area. Barto said that 90 percent of New Hanover County residents choose NHRMC when they seek medical care.

“When you hear people say they’re going to Duke, they’re not,” Barto said, referencing the Duke University Hospital.

Barto said plans to expand parking access to NHRMC will also make it more competitive with upstate university hospitals.

Locally, Barto said NHRMC is responsible for 11 percent of the area’s economic impact and had a 1.95 billion impact on its primary seven-county service area. He said the hospital added more than 2,000 employees during his 12-year tenure as CEO, averaging about 14 a month, and said the hospital hadn’t conducted layoffs since 2003.

Barto will retire at the end of the year, though his replacement, John Gizdic, has already moved into the role of president.

Email [email protected]

- Advertisement -spot_img

More articles

- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest articles