State health regulators have denied Novant Health Inc.'s second application to open an Asheville-area hospital, opting to allow AdventHealth to expand a planned hospital campus in Buncombe County.
The N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation posted Thursday its determinations on the three certificate-of-need applications that also involved Mission Hospital Inc.
The three groups submitted applications to add 26 hospital beds. Novant has until Dec. 23 to appeal the division's decision.
Regulators rejected in December 2022 Novant's bid to open a 67-bed community hospital in Asheville in favor of AdventHealth's planned 67-bed hospital in Weaverville. Mission also had a CON application denied.
Meanwhile, state health regulators have given conditional approval to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist's application to add a $25.06 million multispecialty ambulatory surgical center within its Innovation Quarter property in downtown Winston-Salem.
Baptist has been approved to shift two operating rooms from the Ardmore campus. The center is projected to debut in June 2026 and the operating rooms in July 2026.
Novant disclosed May 2 its plans for a $249.7-million, 26-bed Asheville Medical Center that would be located on a 24-acre site located at 455 Long Shoals Road in Arden in the southern part of Buncombe.
Although state health regulators did not provide comment on why AdventHealth was chosen over Novant and Mission, the overall review listed concerns about Mission already having a near-monopoly on hospital beds in the four-county region.
The review listed the Novant and AdventHealth applications being considered equally on most of the primary categories.
However, AdventHealth had an advantage on projected average net revenue per admission/discharge, and projected average operating expense per admission/discharge.
AdventHealth said it would spend $109.2 million as part of expanding its planned hospital from 67 to 93 beds.
Novant, with facilities in the Triad, Charlotte and Wilmington, continues to pursue a major presence in a fourth urban North Carolina region, along with the Triangle with a CON application for a community hospital in the Raleigh suburb of Knightdale.'
"While we're disappointed Novant Health's certificate of need application was not approved, our work to bring much-needed compassionate care and lifesaving innovation to the region is not limited to the proposed hospital," Novant said in a statement.
In November 2023, it opened Novant Health Surgical Partners -- Biltmore. The system has acquired space at 1815 Hendersonville Road in Asheville to open a multispecialty medical office building.
Other medical facilities include urgent-care services with three GoHealth urgent-care centers in Asheville and Black Mountain.
Novant said in announcing its second Asheville CON hospital application that another step in establishing its footprint in Asheville would be committing $20 million over the next five years "to further develop rural primary care."
"We will continue to listen to and partner with local physicians to meet the needs of the community, and look forward to applying for the additional beds outlined (for the region) by the State Medical Facilities Plan in 2025," according to the statement.
Baptist IQ expansion
The Innovation Quarter presence of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist would expand to include a multispecialty ambulatory surgical center if state health regulators approve a certificate-of-need application.
The department would be located within the Eye Institute that Wake Forest University is developing within the former Inmar Intelligence headquarters property.
The proposal was not considered as competitive in terms of potential opposition from another healthcare system.
Baptist is moving two operating rooms from the main Ardmore campus to the proposed new outpatient department. The project will be paid through financial reserves.
The department located at 635 Vine St. would be considered as an extension of the main campus and under the primary Baptist license. Dr. Craig Greven, chairman of the medical school's ophthalmology department, will serve as the department's medical director.
The 242,000-square-foot location is noteworthy for its five-story atrium lobby, abundant natural light, modern finishes, flexible floorplates and ample surface parking.
According to the CON application, the department would focus on "the aging population" and "medically underserved" in the Triad. Baptist said 71% of its ambulatory surgical patients live outside Forsyth County.
It also would "help to decompress the utilization" of hospital operating rooms on the main campus and provide "dependable scheduled ambulatory surgery times, which are not likely to be delayed or bumped by non-related emergencies."
The two 550-square-foot operating rooms would be utilized 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays excluding holidays. Baptist would operate and staff the operating rooms for at least the initial three years.
The surgical specialties will be ophthalmology (involving eye disorders), otolaryngology (involving surgical management of the head and neck), and plastic surgery. Surgeries would be available to all patients with a referral.
Other key details include: there would be two non-licensed minor procedure rooms; a LASIK procedure room; 20 recovery rooms and nurse stations; operating room support spaces; and a reception and business area.
Baptist plans to renovate additional space to establish medical and surgical specialty physician office clinics.
rcraver@wsjournal.com
336-727-7376 | @rcraverWSJ
Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The business news you need
Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.
Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Richard Craver Author email Follow Richard Craver Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today