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UNC Heath has identified the southeast corner of S. 17th Street and Shipyard Boulevard for a new community hospital. (Google Photos)<\/p>\nUNC Heath has identified the southeast corner of S. 17th Street and Shipyard Boulevard for a new community hospital. (Google Photos)<\/p>\n
WILMINGTON \u2014 UNC Health has announced plans to build a new community hospital on a 62-acre proposed site in Wilmington, with a targeted opening of 2030.<\/p>\n
The healthcare network is not-for-profit, state-owned integrated academic health care system based in Chapel Hill and is affiliated with the UNC School of Medicine. UNC Health identified the southeast corner of South 17th Street and Shipyard Boulevard, within 1 mile from Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center, noting the site was selected for its accessibility and its \u201cgeographic infill capacity in serving a rapidly growing region.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE: \u2018Same old-same old\u2019: Novant NHRMC receives another \u2018C\u2019 Leapfrog grade\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The proposed new hospital will offer a comprehensive range of specialties, including emergency care, cardiology, oncology, OBGYN and more. <\/p>\n Dr. Cristy Page, CEO of UNC Health, noted in a press release specialty care options were needed in New Hanover County.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a Wilmington native, I\u2019ve seen firsthand the challenges families face when specialty care isn\u2019t available in their own community,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is what \u2018care closer to home\u2019 looks like: a community hospital, backed by a statewide, state-owned academic health system, designed to bring the additional services this growing community has asked for.\u201d<\/p>\n Port City Daily reached out to both the New Hanover County commissioners and the Wilmington City Council for feedback on the potential new hospital. <\/p>\n \u201cMore options and competition in the private sector typically benefit consumers,\u201d Commissioner Dane Scalise wrote in a text message to Port City Daily. \u201cI look forward to learning more.\u201d<\/p>\n Commissioners Rob Zapple and LeAnn Pierce agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cAs New Hanover County continues to experience significant growth, additional healthcare options are welcome news for our residents,\u201d Pierce wrote in a text to Port City Daily. \u201cAccess, competition and expanded services can all benefit New Hanover County residents.\u201d <\/p>\n UNC Health will need to undergo the state\u2019s certificate of need process to gain approval for the facility. According to the 2026 State Medical Facilities Plan, there\u2019s a projected need for 225 acute care beds in New Hanover County by 2028.<\/p>\n Zapple thought the central placement of the hospital and proximity to other health care services was great.<\/p>\n \u201cYou start looking around New Hanover County, the number of sites that are large enough to handle hospital are pretty small \u2014 I think they really jumped out quick and locked that down,\u201d Zapple said.<\/p>\n Wilmington council member Salette Andrews, despite acknowledging many of her constituents would welcome the facility, said she had some concerns about the physical site. The facility will need approval from the Wilmington City Council to proceed to construction. <\/p>\n \u201cThe proposed location at Shipyard Boulevard and South 17th Street is already one of the more heavily traveled corridors in our city, so traffic, infrastructure capacity, stormwater management, neighborhood compatibility, and emergency access will all need to be carefully reviewed as more details become available,\u201d Andrews wrote in an email to Port City Daily. <\/p>\n A city spokesperson confirmed to Port City Daily the city has not received any submissions for the site as of yet. <\/p>\n The Wilmington hospital facility is part of UNC Health\u2019s expansion into southeastern North Carolina; it currently has a health center in Lumberton. UNC Health says it plans to partner with local healthcare groups, including Wilmington Health, the largest independent, physician-owned practice in southeastern North Carolina. UNC Health said Wilmington Health providers are expected to participate on the medical staff of the new hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cWilmington Health has served this community for more than 50 years, and we know firsthand that our patients are interested in choice,\u201d Jeff James, CEO of Wilmington Health, said in a press release. \u201cWe strongly support UNC Health\u2019s plan to bring a new community hospital to our region\u2013 closing critical gaps in specialty care and ensuring families across our region have options to access the services they need, right here at home.\u201d<\/p>\n UNC Health\u2019s new facility will bring its statewide competition with Novant to the local area, where Novant continuously receives<\/a> complaints and criticisms on its services from the local community.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also received \u201cC\u201d grades from Leapfrog, a nonprofit organization evaluating hospital safety and quality nationwide biannually for nearly 3,000 hospitals, with updates each spring and fall. Since Novant Health acquired NHRMC in 2021, the hospital moved from a \u201cB\u201d grade in 2022 and 2023 to a \u201cC\u201d in 2024 \u2014 a rating it has now held for three consecutive cycles.<\/p>\n The hospital continues to score below national averages on patient outcome measures tied to surgical care and complications, while performing better in categories related to infection prevention protocols and hospital safety systems.<\/p>\n Port City Daily reached out to Novant Health for comment on the UNC Health proposal but did not hear back by press.<\/p>\n The most comparable facility to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in UNC Health\u2019s system is UNC Health Rex in Raleigh, North Carolina, which earned an \u201cB\u201d in Leapfrog\u2019s most recent grading despite earning an \u201cA\u201d in several past assessments.<\/p>\n UNC Health\u2019s announcement also follows the recent addition of Ernie Bovio to its leadership team. Bovio joined UNC Health\u2019s April 2026 after exiting his position as president of the Novant Health Coastal Region.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an important first step in our commitment to ensuring that families in Wilmington and the surrounding areas have access to the high-quality, compassionate care they deserve \u2014 right here at home,\u201d Bovio said in a press release. \u201cAs I\u2019ve listened to my own neighbors and community members across the region, I\u2019ve heard a clear message: Wilmington is ready for more choice in healthcare \u2014 and UNC Health is ready to deliver it.\u201d<\/p>\n This is a developing story and will be updated with more information and comments from local leaders as it becomes available. <\/p>\n At Port City Daily, we aim to keep locals informed on top-of-mind news facing the tri-county region. To support our work and help us reach more people in 2026, please, consider helping one of two ways: Subscribe\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0or make a one-time contribution\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n We appreciate your ongoing support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UNC Heath has identified the southeast corner of S. 17th Street and Shipyard Boulevard for a new community…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-637040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}