By WECT Staff | February 22, 2021 at 12:30 PM EST – Updated February 22 at 4:17 PM
NEW HANOVER CO., N.C. (WECT) – New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s application to build a 66-bed facility in Scotts Hill has been denied by the state.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Services rejected NHRMC’s application for the $210 million project.
In its findings, the state wrote in a Feb. 9 letter:
“The applicant does not adequately demonstrate the need to develop 36 new acute care beds and to relocate 30 existing acute care beds, eight existing ORs, and other existing assets to develop a new hospital campus.”
“In this application, NHRMC proposes specifically to address the quality of access to acute care services through the relocation of 30 of its existing acute care beds along with 36 new acute care beds to develop a new community hospital in the fastest growing area of the county – Scotts Hill, New Hanover County,” the application to the state reads.
The new hospital campus would have been located in the same place as the ED North, a freestanding emergency department operated by NHRMC. It would have included a two-story addition to the existing emergency department. The first floor of the facility would house the surgery department and most support services with the second floor housing the acute care beds and support space.
In its application, NHRMC noted that its main campus on 17th street is “crowded and highly congested.”
The hospital proposed relocating 30 licensed acute care beds from its Orthopedic Hospital on Wrightsville Avenue to the new Scotts Hill Campus. In addition, 36 new beds would be added.
“[With the] planned closure of the nearby NHRMC Orthopedic Hospital, NHRMC is in need of expanded capacity at a new location to accommodate shifting patient volumes. This will free up capacity at NHRMC Main to continue serving higher acuity patients from across the county and region and ensure that there is no gap in care for patients historically served by the Orthopedic Hospital,” the application states.
If the project was approved, the Orthopedic Campus would no longer offer inpatient services. In addition to the 30 beds being shifted to Scotts Hill, the Orthopedic Hospital’s remaining 45 beds would be added to the hospital’s main campus on 17th street.
The state’s findings can be seen below:
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