| The N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation has approved the
request of Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS) and Carolinas Medical
Center-Lincoln to build a replacement hospital in Lincoln County. The $85
million replacement facility will be located at 489 McAllister Rd near Highway
150 north in Lincolnton on approximately 55 acres of land. The new location is
three miles northeast of the current facility. The new hospital campus will
comprise approximately 182 thousand square feet and 101 beds, the same number of
beds as the current CMC-Lincoln facility, but this is where the similarities
end.
The new "CMC-Lincoln will represent the single largest
investment made in healthcare in Lincoln County and the most modern facility we
can build," said Michael C. Tarwater, Chief Executive Officer of Carolinas
HealthCare System. "Under the leadership of Pete Acker, President of
CMC-Lincoln, the case has been successfully made for a new, replacement hospital
to benefit of the community and to meet the continuing population growth there."
CHS will now move forward with building the new facility. In
addition to the hospital, the location will also accommodate a large medical
office park with several primary and specialty care physicians. Site work could
begin as early as March 2008, pending final architectural design approval. With
a timeline of approximately three years for construction, officials estimate the
101-bed hospital may be able to open during fourth quarter 2010.
"We appreciate the state Division of Health Service Regulation
considering and accepting the additional data submitted to make their decision.
Now, the very important work of planning and constructing a medical campus to
serve our county well into the future can begin," said Acker.
"This CON decision solidifies our goal of increasing access to
quality healthcare locally," said Danny Richard, CMC-Lincoln Community Trustee
Council Chairman..
Meanwhile, medical convenience for the people of Lincoln County
is being addressed by CMC-Lincoln. The West Lincoln physician office project is
well underway and a physician has already been recruited to begin seeing
patients there once construction is completed. Groundwork has also begun for the
East Lincoln ambulatory surgical center to be located on the new Highway 16,
giving Denver residents easier access to outpatient diagnostic procedures and
surgeries.
Once the new CMC-Lincoln hospital is built and patients have
been moved in, CHS will move forward with its agreement with Lincoln County
commissioners to return, debt free, the hospital's current buildings and land,
located at 200 Gamble Drive, enabling the county to save valuable tax dollars
while still meeting current needs for building space and program expansion.
Lincoln County Commission chairman Tom Anderson, who also serves
on CMC-Lincoln's Community Trustee Council, views the state decision not only as
a success for healthcare, but also for the economy of Lincoln County.
"It's an exhilarating time to be a Lincoln County resident as we
witness the development of new healthcare facilities in the west, east and
center of the county and look to having the benefit of more physicians and
services for our residents. We hope to see a trickle-down effect as more
businesses look to Lincoln County as an expansion possibility," said Anderson.
Since CMC-Lincoln became an entity of Carolinas HealthCare in
September 2006, CHS has already strengthened its presence in Lincoln County,
recruiting additional primary care physicians and specialists and increasing
cardiology services through a new cardiac call link physicians may use at the
hospital to connect with Sanger Clinic physicians.
"It's an exciting time to be a Lincoln County resident as well
as a physician practicing at CMC-Lincoln as we anticipate this new hospital
facility opening and play an active role in shaping the way it serves our
patients," said Dr. Margo Aswad, CMC-Lincoln chief of staff. "We envision the
new CMC-Lincoln hospital to be a facility in which patients and families can
receive the quality of medical care they've come to expect from CMC hospitals,
and physicians and staff can find the environment a gratifying place to
work."
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