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…