Atrium Health, Novant file plans to add hospital beds in Charlotte - Charlotte Business Journal

Listen to this article 4 min

Charlotte's two major health-care systems have requested new beds as part of ongoing projects.

Atrium Health and Novant Health are each requesting additional beds for their main Charlotte hospitals.

Public records from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ Certificate of Need division, which approves the expansion of health-care facilities and services, show that Atrium and Novant recently filed CODs for their primary hospitals in Charlotte.

Atrium is requesting 89 acute care beds at an estimated cost of about $120 million, according to the application. If approved, Charlotte-based Atrium plans to use 10 beds for renovated space at Levine Children's Hospital and 79 for its new $892 million bed tower currently under construction at Carolinas Medical Center.

Winston-Salem-based Novant is seeking 80 acute care beds, estimated to cost about $103 million, as part of a nine-story bed tower expansion at Presbyterian Medical Center.

The 2024 N.C. State Medical Facilities Plan shows that Mecklenburg County is only in need of 89 additional acute care beds, meaning it's possible only one request will be approved.

Atrium currently has 1,342 acute care beds, and Novant has 786, according to the report.

Saad Ehtisham, president of Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center and senior vice president of the greater Charlotte Region, said that if approved, the new beds would be located across three floors in a new patient tower. The new facility will be built on the southeast side of the existing Presbyterian Medical Center along North Caswell Road and connect to the main hospital on the first floor.

The new bed tower will include the expansion of the current emergency department and relocation of a dedicated pediatric emergency department. Pre-surgical, post-surgical and post-anesthesia services will also be relocated and reconfigured.

A total project cost and groundbreaking date were not immediately available. Ehtisham said the anticipated opening date is early 2030.

"The new tower also includes space for future use, including acute care beds, which we have applied to the state for approval to add," he said. "We are excited for these plans that will allow us to usher in a new era at Presbyterian Medical Center so we may continue serving patients as we have for generations.”

Atrium broke ground in July 2023 on a 12-story, 1.1-million-square-foot bed tower that is part of the health-care system's $1.4 billion capital expenditure investment into its main campus facilities in midtown.

The new tower at 1000 Blythe Blvd. is expected to open in 2027. It will have at least 448 beds and include state-of-the-art operating rooms, surgery and procedure suites, cardiac cath labs, interventional radiology suites, diagnostics and imaging, inpatient beds, a helipad and an expanded emergency room, as well as public amenities and dining.

An Atrium representative said the certificate-of-need request addresses the need for additional acute care beds in Mecklenburg County as identified in this year's State Medical Facilities Plan.

"The plan highlights a need for 89 more acute care beds due, in part, to high utilization rates at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center and driven by population growth," the representative said. "These projects aim to address capacity constraints and ensure access to high-quality care for the Charlotte metro area."

No. of licensed beds