WILMINGTON — The nation’s third largest nonprofit healthcare system has entered the fold to bring more patient beds to the greater Wilmington region. Atrium Health, a division of Advocate Health, announced Monday it hopes to add a hospital to coastal North Carolina.
Steve Smoot, president of the North Carolina and Georgia division at Advocate Health, said one hospital serving the area isn’t enough.
“We have seen, and then helped solve, similar challenges across North Carolina, and we’re ready to do the same in New Hanover County,” he wrote in a release. “We’re especially honored to have the support of over 200 local clinicians who know this community, know Atrium Health’s record and have endorsed our application to build a new community hospital here.”
READ MORE: UNC Health plans community hospital in Wilmington, public hearing could come this summer
Atrium filed its certificate of need with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services by the June 15 deadline; UNC Health and Novant NHRMC also submitted a certificate of need to bring more hospital beds to the region. UNC Health announced last month it would apply for community hospital to be built on 62 acres at the corner of Shipyard Boulevard and 17th Street. Novant wants to add a surgical heart and vascular care wing, with a 225-bed patient tower.
The 2026 State Medical Facilities Plan in North Carolina has identified 225 inpatient beds are needed New Hanover County by 2028. This has led to competing applications to fulfill the need.
Port City Daily asked the state for all of the certificate of needs that were turned over on Monday but did not receive a response by press.
The process will include, according to the state website, the Division of Health Service Regulation reviewing applications and during the first 30 days, anyone can file comments or support letters for the proposals. A public hearing is required no more than 20 days after comments have closed, to be held in the region the applicants could serve, in this case New Hanover County. Then the state has up to 150 days to review against standards and criteria set by the division, as well as public comments turned over about the applications.
“Applications are competitive if they, in whole or in part, are for the same or similar services and the agency determines that the approval of one or more of the applications may result in the denial of another application reviewed in the same review period,” according to the state.
Within 30 days of the division’s decision, anyone affected by the ruling can appeal it to the Office of Administrative Hearings.
Atrium is planning a full service community hospital and though it’s unclear where the hospital will be built, it will bring programs in cancer, cardiovascular and neurosciences, as well as help training medical students in the area and provide clinical research. The health network boasts having the highest level of cancer care recognition nationwide, being one of only 57 National Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Columbus Regional’s Donayre Cancer Center is a charter member of Atrium Health’s Levine Cancer Institute Cancer Care Network.
Atrium applied for a certificate of need due to the region’s fast growth, as New Hanover County has experienced a 12% increase in population in the last decade but also expects a 48% in growth through 2050.
“Despite that growth, the region continues to rely on a single hospital operating at more than 92% occupancy,” Atrium representatives noted of Novant, the only hospital serving the region.
A similar statement of reasoning was given by UNC Health, when it announced in May its plan to bring a potential hospital to the area. UNC Health’s community hospital will offer a comprehensive range of specialties, including emergency care, cardiology, oncology, OBGYN and more. Ernie Bovio, UNC Health president, said at the time, “Wilmington is ready for more choice in healthcare.”
Novant has countered it’s better aligned than any new network coming to the area to deliver increased healthcare needs, with infrastructure already in place to serve more inpatient beds. The hospital currently consists of 823 beds and according to its president, Laurie Whalin, is prepared to bring more online expeditiously.
“We are the only health system with the ability to deliver seamlessly integrated care because we have the infrastructure, including operating rooms and catheterization labs, which are not available for expansion under the current state plans,” Whalin wrote in a release Monday. “Without those vital services, other systems could only offer a fragmented care experience and would be unable to fully deliver on promises of specialty care. Thanks to the strength and expertise of Novant Health’s clinicians, we are the strongest positioned to care for the rapidly growing region.”
Novant NHRMC has faced scrutiny since buying the county-owned New Hanover Regional Medical Center for $1.5 billion in 2021. This also birthed the New Hanover Community Endowment with more than $1.25 billion serving the community for health, education, safety and economic development needs via grants awarded to area nonprofits and organizations.
As part of the sale, Novant also agreed to invest $3.1 billion in capital expenditures; it has scaled capacity so far in the opening of Scotts Hill Medical Center and has future plans to open a Wilmington rehabilitation hospital, 20-bed Novant Health Leland Medical Center and free-standing emergency department in Carolina Shores.
Though Novant’s certificate of need is focused on heart and vascular, it notes its additional beds would serve the hospital overall and the 65-and-up age group increasing in the area, making services in more demand. This would lead to improvements in overall inpatient capacity, patient experience and reduction of wait times, according to Novant.
The hospital has received “C” ratings 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 from the county in 2021, the hospital moved from a “B” grade in 2022 and 2023 to a “C” in 2024 — a rating it has now held for three consecutive cycles.
Novant NHRMC 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.
However, Novant NHRMC has ranked high in vascular care and most recently U.S. News & World Report listed it among the top 20 medical centers in North Carolina. Its chief physician executive of the Heart & Vascular Institute in the Coastal Region, Dr. Bill Smith, said in a release Monday:
“By fully integrating advanced cardiac services, we will support interdisciplinary collaboration while enhancing our ability to deliver complex, high-acuity care, improving both outcomes and patient experience. This investment ensures our community will have timely access to the highest level of heart and vascular care close to home for decades to come.”
Atrium operates 28 hospitals in North and South Carolina, and said its local certificate of need filing is backed by area physicians and many families who complain about having to travel or wait for long periods of time to receive specialist appointments. Slade Suchecki, a family physician practicing in Southport, said in a release from Atrium, he has seen firsthand how wait times plague patients.
“Some drive hours for care they should be able to get close to home,” he said.
Atrium has worked in the region before, consistently between 2009 and 2020. It was in a management partnership to help grow New Hanover Regional Medical Center Physician Group to over 200 providers across more than a dozen specialties, according to the network.
It also provided aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, by flying in supplies to New Hanover and Pender counties. Atrium also deployed its MED-1 mobile hospital unit to Burgaw, with first responders and other medical staff treating more than 900 patients over nearly two weeks, while the hospital was closed.
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