NC regulators approve new hospital beds but no new hospitals for Wake County
State regulators have approved the addition of 70 hospital beds and four operating rooms in Wake County, but turned down proposals for new hospitals in Garner, Knightdale and Wake Forest.
The additional hospital beds are a response to growing demand in North Carolina’s most populous county, which health care systems are eager to accommodate.
Regulators received nine proposals to add acute care beds, operating rooms or both from the region’s three big hospital systems — Duke Health, WakeMed Health and Hospitals and UNC Health — and from one aspiring newcomer, Winston-Salem-based Novant Health.
The applications added up to 246 new beds and 13 operating rooms. They included a 50-bed hospital that UNC Health wants to build in Wake Forest; a new 12-bed hospital Duke proposed in Garner; and a 36-bed hospital that Novant sought to put in Knightdale.
But the state Department of Health and Human Services determined that Wake County needs only 70 additional acute care beds and four operating rooms by 2026. The department’s “certificate of need” process aims to prevent hospitals from building unnecessary facilities that drive up health care costs or hurt quality, and approves only what it thinks the market can support.
In the end, regulators divided the 70 hospital beds among four existing hospitals:
▪ 21 at WakeMed’s main campus in Raleigh
▪ 20 at UNC Rex in Raleigh
▪ 24 at WakeMed Cary
▪ 5 at Duke Raleigh
In addition, the state approved four new operating rooms, two each at WakeMed and Rex hospitals in Raleigh.
WakeMed issued a statement saying it was pleased the state approved three of its applications “among the many thoughtful and well-crafted proposals submitted.”
UNC Health said in statement that it was happy the state allowed Rex to expand but disappointed it turned down the proposed Wake Forest hospital.
“That new hospital would improve access in the fast-growing region of northern Wake County, and enable patients in that area to conveniently seek high-quality care at a UNC Health Rex facility closer to home,” the statement said.
Another round of applications coming soon
Novant has tried to break into the Wake County market before, with two applications to build a hospital in Holly Springs in 2008 and 2011. Both were denied, and the company filed an appeal in court when in 2012 UNC Rex received approval to build a 50-bed hospital there. Novant abandoned that fight in 2014, and UNC Rex opened in late 2021.
In a statement, the nonprofit health system said it will try again to win state approval for a hospital in Knightdale.
“We see a lot of opportunity in the eastern part of the county, including the Knightdale community, as most healthcare services are concentrated elsewhere in the area,” it said.
Duke Health put in four applications this time around. In addition to the proposed hospital in Garner, it sought 41 additional acute care beds and three more operating rooms at Duke Raleigh Hospital and 17 additional beds at the hospital it’s building off Green Level Road in Cary.
The state approved only five new acute care beds at Duke Raleigh. In a statement, Duke Health said it is still assessing the state’s decision.
“We are considering all options, including appeal and further applications in coming months,” it said. “We are committed to ensuring that the patients of Wake County have access to all the health care services they need and, specifically, the high-level and specialized care provided by Duke Health.”
All of the hospital systems will soon get another chance to seek approval for expansion or new hospitals. State regulators have determined that Wake County will need an additional 267 acute care beds in 2027.
