WakeMed Wins Approval to Add 41 Beds to WakeMed North Healthplex

WakeMed Health & Hospitals has won approval to add 41 licensed acute-care beds to WakeMed North Healthplex for women’s-focused inpatient services. The new beds will be added to the 20 acute care beds already approved for relocation from WakeMed Raleigh Campus, making WakeMed North Healthplex Wake County’s fifth full-service hospital and the county’s first and only women’s hospital. WakeMed North Healthplex’ new 61-bed women’s hospital will offer comprehensive preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic care, including a full range of obstetric and gynecological services.  These new services will be supported by WakeMed North Healthplex’ existing emergency, surgery, diagnostic imaging, and laboratory services. The proposed addition will be 72,300 square feet.  Projected costs will be $34,062,006. Construction is expected to begin February 2010 and is slated to be complete by October 2011. “North Healthplex has been extremely successful since opening in 2002, demonstrating the need for health care services in this community,” explained Dr. Bill Atkinson, president and CEO, WakeMed Health & Hospitals. “The facility’s emergency department volumes are higher than more than half of the emergency departments in the entire state of North Carolina.  We expect the new women’s hospital to be just as busy. However, we also understand that there are other communities in our county that are growing and will soon need additional health care resources.  We are committed to continuing to work with these communities to address their health care needs.” Additionally, WakeMed’s Certificate of Need application to add two operating rooms (ORs) to WakeMed North Healthplex and two ORs to WakeMed Cary Hospital has been denied. “Since we just received the decision, we have not determined if we will be filing an appeal.  In the coming days, we will be closely reviewing the findings before deciding next steps,” commented Stan Taylor, WakeMed senior vice president of corporate planning and managed care.  The deadline for filing is 30 days after the decision is announced. The proposed OR projects included a 1,792 square-foot addition to WakeMed North Healthplex adjacent to the surgical suite, and the renovation of 1,450 square feet within the existing WakeMed Cary Hospital operating room suite.


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About WakeMed Health & Hospitals WakeMed Health & Hospitals, one of the first hospital systems in the country, is a private, not-for-profit health care organization based in Raleigh, N.C. The 870-bed system comprises a network of health care facilities throughout Wake and Johnston Counties, including: a Level I Trauma Center and tertiary referral hospital and rehabilitation hospital in Raleigh, a community hospital in Cary, two comprehensive outpatient centers and freestanding emergency departments in North Raleigh and Apex, seven outpatient rehabilitation sites, two skilled-nursing and outpatient facilities, a 100+-physician multispecialty practice, and home health services. Centers of excellence include cardiac and vascular care, women’s and children’s services, physical rehab, emergency and trauma, orthopaedics, neurosciences, home care and numerous wellness and community outreach programs. For more information, visit www.wakemed.org.

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