Three health systems are competing for 225 acute care beds in New Hanover County, NC. UNC Health proposes an $852.6M hospital, Atrium Health a $395.7M facility, and Novant Health a $236.7M expansion of its Wilmington campus. State regulators will hold a public hearing on Aug. 20.
A rare three way contest is taking shape in southeastern North Carolina, where UNC Health, Novant Health, and Atrium Health have each filed certificate of need applications to capture 225 acute care beds allocated to New Hanover County under the 2026 State Medical Facilities Plan.
Certificate of need contests of this scale are uncommon, and the divergent strategies on display reflect each system’s position in the Wilmington market.
UNC Health Wilmington Medical Center Inc proposes an entirely new 150 bed hospital in Wilmington at a projected cost of $852.6 million, with completion targeted for July 2031.
Atrium Health Coastal Inc, together with Advocate Health Inc, seeks to build a smaller 42 bed hospital in the city for $395.7 million, opening in January 2032.
Novant Health, the incumbent operator through Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center LLC, would instead add all 225 beds to its existing campus for $236.7 million by January 2030, the fastest and least expensive of the three proposals.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will hold a public hearing on Aug. 20 at the Arboretum Education Center, and written comments are due to the Healthcare Planning and Certificate of Need Section by 5 p.m. on July 31, according to reporting by WECT.