CHARLOTTE — CaroMont Health and Duke Health face significant competition in their $1.2 billion bid to expand in the Charlotte region.
The systems have applied to develop 200 acute-care beds in Mecklenburg County through a newly formed joint venture. Their proposals are among 10 applications seeking a combined 686 beds across new and existing facilities. Other applications were filed by Atrium Health and Novant Health, Mecklenburg County’s two dominant health systems.
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Gastonia-based CaroMont and Durham-based Duke announced the joint venture this month. Under the arrangement, the hospitals would be owned and operated by a new company equally owned and jointly governed by the two systems.
One application is for Duke CaroMont Hospital Northeast, a 120-bed facility with a proposed capital expenditure of $692.1 million. The other application is for Duke CaroMont Hospital River District, an 80-bed hospital with an estimated capital cost of $500.61 million.
The Northeast hospital is proposed as a 423,000-square-foot facility, including 40,000 square feet of shell space, on about 23 acres at West Mallard Creek Church Road and Interstate 85. The River District project would be a 294,000-square-foot facility on a roughly 59-acre site near Interstate 485 and West Boulevard, near Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
The health systems said they selected the locations to bring more advanced healthcare services closer to growing population centers outside of central Charlotte.
Duke’s and CaroMont’s applications are in response to the 2026 State Medical Facilities Plan, which identified a need for 389 acute care beds in Mecklenburg County. If approved, the hospitals are expected to become operational in 2031.
Read the full story on CBJ’s website here.