Carolinas HealthCare Wants First-of-Its-Kind ER
By Kirsten Valle, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.
Jul. 9–Carolinas HealthCare System wants to build a free-standing emergency department — the first of its kind in Charlotte and one of just a handful in the state — in Steele Creek.
If given the green light by the state this fall, the health care system will build a 22,500-square-foot, $19.7 million “healthplex” on about 6 acres at N.C. 49 and N.C. 160.
The facility would join a 40,000-square-foot medical office building, which will house ob-gyn, internal medicine and pediatrics services, which is under construction and set to open in early 2008.
“We think there’s a good case for this there,” CHS spokesman Scott White said. “That whole area where we will locate is growing.”
The 24-hour emergency facility would offer outpatient diagnostic services, including a CT scanner, ultrasound and laboratory, he said.
It would have eight exam and treatment rooms, plus two observation beds.
The facility wouldn’t perform surgeries or keep patients overnight, but its doctors could stabilize patients there — one way it differs from the urgent care center CHS operates near N.C. 49 and Westinghouse Boulevard, White said.
“You can get the same quality of care as you would from an emergency department connected to a hospital,” he said.
About 90 percent of hospital emergency room patients don’t stay overnight anyway, White said.
If approved, the free-standing facility will be the first of its kind in the Charlotte area and one of the first in the Carolinas.
Similar facilities have opened in Raleigh, operated by Wake Medical Center, and Charleston, operated by Roper St. Francis Healthcare, which is managed by CHS.
“It’s still a fairly novel idea,” White said. “Hopefully, the state grants us this.”
Earlier this year, the state rejected CHS’ proposal to build a free-standing emergency department in Union County.
It also turned down CHS plans to build in Mint Hill. CHS had proposed either a similar emergency department or a $70 million, 50-bed hospital.
Charlotte rival Presbyterian Healthcare won state approval for its bid to build a Mint Hill hospital and plans to start construction on the $90 million facility next year.
CHS submitted a certificate of need application for the Steele Creek project to the N.C. Division of Facility Services in mid-May.
The state will hold a public hearing this week and decide on the project by late October, White said.
If the facility is approved, it should open in September 2009, he said.
It would join a growing number of government, health care and business services that have come to Steele Creek in recent years, fueled in part by mega-developments The Palisades, The Sanctuary and Berewick, which are bringing thousands of new residents to the area.
— Editor’s note: This story appeared previously in the Observer’s South Mecklenburg section.
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