Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth has selected a location for its new $254 million community hospital in North Carolina, though the system is still awaiting the resolution of an appeal filed by Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health.
The 67-bed hospital is slated to be built in Weaverville, N.C. The facility would include a surgery suite, 12-bed emergency department, 13-bed labor and delivery unit, and 12-bed intensive care unit, among other features.
North Carolina approved AdventHealth's certificate-of-need application to build the hospital in 2022. Mission Health, part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, appealed the state's decision, which led to a trial last fall. The health systems are awaiting a judge's decision, which is expected in the coming weeks.
"We are confident in the state's decision to award AdventHealth Asheville the CON for the new hospital. With the purchase of the property in Weaverville, we are ready to move forward building this hospital," Brandon Nudd, president and CEO of AdventHealth Hendersonville, said in a March 19 news release.
The update comes as both systems fight to grow their footprints in Western North Carolina. Last fall, AdventHealth Hendersonville and AdventHealth Asheville appealed the CON application for Mission's planned $29 million freestanding ED in Candler, N.C.
HCA pushed back against AdventHealth's decision, noting that emergency rooms nationwide are seeing an influx of patients and longer wait times post-pandemic.
"This ER is an imminent solution to help meet the needs of our community and bring additional access to emergency care in Buncombe County," Nancy Lindell, a spokesperson for Mission Health, told Becker's last October. "It is disappointing other hospitals that regularly send their patients to Mission for a higher level of care would actively work to stop better access to emergent care for our communities."
Editor's note: Becker's has reached out to Mission Health for comment on AdventHealth's planned community hospital and will update the article if more information becomes available.