UNC Health is proposing UNC Health West, a 92-bed acute care hospital in Asheville near Westgate Mall and Patton Avenue, advancing the project through North Carolina’s Certificate of Need process as it appeals a 2025 CON decision tied to Buncombe County.
UNC Health has put forward a proposal to build an acute care hospital in Buncombe County, extending the reach of North Carolina’s state-owned academic health system into the western part of the state. Branded UNC Health West, the facility would carry 92 beds and would rise in Asheville near Westgate Mall and Patton Avenue, pending regulatory clearance.
Plans call for the hospital to deliver a broad slate of services. Emergency care, intensive care, neonatology, labor and delivery, and cardiology would anchor the clinical offering, alongside gastroenterology, radiology, psychiatry, speech pathology, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. Development would proceed as a partnership between UNC Health and UNC Health Pardee, the Hendersonville community hospital that has operated under the system since 2011.
Approval hinges on North Carolina’s Certificate of Need process, a regulatory framework that requires health systems to demonstrate that new medical investments match documented community demand before construction can begin. UNC Health is currently appealing a 2025 CON decision connected to Buncombe County while preparing for the 2026 CON review cycle. Should either path succeed, the system would advance only one acute care hospital. Facilities that fall outside CON requirements remain under consideration as well.
Dr. Cristy Page leads UNC Health as chief executive, and Jay Kirby serves as president and chief executive of UNC Health Pardee. The proposed hospital would serve patients across Buncombe, Clay, Graham, Madison, and Yancey counties. UNC Health, which operates 20 hospitals statewide, detailed the proposal in a June 18 announcement.