North Carolina Children's Hospital will be built in Apex
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Rendering: Courtesy of NC Children's Hospital
The future North Carolina Children's Hospital, which will be jointly run by UNC Health and Duke Health, will be built in Apex, the two health systems said on Thursday.
Why it matters: The children's hospital is one of the largest developments expected to be built in the state in the coming years, though it is dependent on hundreds of millions of dollars being appropriated from the state budget.
- It would give North Carolina its first freestanding children's hospital and create 8,000 new jobs in the region once it opens in the early 2030s.
Driving the news: The two health systems have picked the Veridea master-planned community, a 1,000-acre site near the intersection of U.S. 1 and the Triangle Expressway, as the hospital's future home.
- The hospital would be built on 230 acres of open land there — a large figure that made it attractive for the search team. Originally, the health systems said they were looking for 100 acres of land located centrally in the Triangle.
- More than 15 sites across the Triangle were considered, Duke Health CEO Craig Albanese said during a news conference Thursday. They picked Apex for a handful of reasons, including ease of access by car and air, alignment with the local governments to support construction and operations, ample room to grow, and proximity to both UNC and Duke.
Zoom in: NC Children's Health Campus would include a 500-bed hospital, a surgical center, a medical office building as well as the potential of hotels, restaurants and shops for those visiting the hospital from all over the state and country.
- The hope is to break ground on the campus in 2027 and open by 2033.
The big picture: Outside of providing more health services to the state's youth population, the new location will be a boon for Apex, a town in southern Wake County that has already seen huge growth in the past decade.
- The town is already home to 75,000 people, up 18% since 2020, according to the Census Bureau. It's already larger than UNC Health's home base of Chapel Hill.
- Veridea is also expected to add another 8,000 new homes to the area as well.
What they're saying: "This transformational project will bring new jobs — not only strengthening our economy, but creating opportunities for people to be part of something greater: a space where hope, healing, and compassionate care come together for countless families," Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert said in a statement.
Yes, but: The hospital's future will in part hinge on what North Carolina state lawmakers allocate toward it, and whether they will put any additional dollars toward the project in the near future remains in question.
- The hospital is expected to cost around $3 billion. Part of that funding will come from the legislature, which has already allocated some $320 million.
- Whether all of that funding will ultimately come through is unclear, as the state House proposed clawing back $100 million of that in a spending package unveiled in May. The state Senate, however, proposed an additional more than $535 million, which would bring the total state funding for the hospital to $855 million.
- The two chambers have been in a stalemate for months over their differing budget proposals and remain at odds over how to reconcile the differences between the two, leaving the path for future funding for the hospital uncertain.
Threat level: Further complicating matters, the main source of funding for the state's portion of the project would come from the federal government — a nearly $2 billion payment authorized by then-President Joe Biden, in exchange for North Carolina expanding Medicaid in 2023, WRAL reported.
- President Donald Trump's budget plan could eliminate the state's Medicaid expansion, unless lawmakers find a way to save the program. Trump or a future president could force North Carolina to pay back its Biden-era Medicaid signing bonus, the station noted.