This is an exciting moment for healthcare in southeastern North Carolina. Our region is growing, our population is changing and we have a real opportunity to plan today for the needs of tomorrow. I've spent much of my career here, and the decisions being made right now will shape care for decades to come. We're committed to getting them right. 

That's why Novant Health has applied for state approval to add 225 inpatient hospital beds through a new patient tower at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center. This filing supports our previously announced master facility plan, an investment upwards of $1 billion focused on meeting the region's surging population growth and rising demand for complex care. Because our planning, investment and physician network are already in place, Novant Health can deliver this expansion faster than any other organization. In a region growing as quickly as ours, speed isn't a luxury. It's a necessity. If this community wants the strongest, fastest path to expanded care, Novant Health is the clear choice. 

The opportunity in front of us isn't simply to add capacity. It's to build the right kind of capacity: care that's connected, advanced and convenient. The goal isn't just more care. It's the right care, in the right place, at the right time. 

Wilmington is one of the fastest-growing regions in North Carolina, with a climbing 65 and older population and a sharp rise in demand for advanced cardiovascular care. The new patient tower would centralize inpatient and surgical heart and vascular care in a single, highly specialized environment, including advanced operating rooms, cardiac catheterization labs and electrophysiology labs. Equally important, moving those services into a dedicated tower frees up space in the main tower, expanding access to medical, surgical and oncology care for even more patients across our community. 

That growth in access builds on infrastructure we already have and expertise our clinicians have already earned. It's expertise that's recognized nationally across specialties: New Hanover Regional Medical Center holds a Commission on Cancer designation from the American College of Surgeons, a Comprehensive Stroke Center designation by DNV, a National Distinction of Excellence for cardiology, and a National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. This expansion allows us to put that proven expertise to work for more of our neighbors, more quickly.  

Our commitment runs deeper than buildings and beds. As a nonprofit, we reinvest back into this community through new facilities, a growing workforce and stronger partnerships, including our work with UNCW as it moves forward with plans for a medical school, training the next generation of physicians and clinicians right here. 

Healthcare is economic infrastructure. That's why the organization receiving this certificate of need (CON) matters as much as the beds themselves. Novant Health brings a nationally recognized physician network, a billion-dollar facility investment already underway and a nonprofit commitment to this community for the long term. That's not just hospital capacity. That's the foundation a growing regional economy can count on. 

For nearly six decades, this community has relied on Novant Health to care for their newborns, provide life-saving emergency care and show up through the ice storms and hurricanes that have tested this region. That history isn't just a point of pride. It's a promise we renew every day. Now, we have an opportunity to build for the Wilmington region we're becoming, not just the one we've always known. This region is growing quickly, and the community is right to expect healthcare to grow with it. Novant Health is ready, willing and able to meet that expectation, together.  

To learn more about our vision for the future of care in this region, visit NovantHealth.org/FutureofCare.