By james art The first construction phase for the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Campus in northwest Greensboro begins Monday with a new component, a $163 million medical office building.
The system will break ground at 1:00 PM at 2909 Horse Pen Creek Road.
The $163 million ambulatory surgery center, multi-specialty medical office building and cancer center is slated to open in 2026.
The five-story building with an area of 134,000 square meters will include specialized clinics in cardiology, gastroenterology, general surgery and orthopedics. The facility will also offer imaging, pharmacy, physical therapy and other services.
Meanwhile, Baptist has set a planned debut of Jan. 1, 2029 for the 36-bed, $262.8 million campus hospital.
With the news of the $163 million medical office building, Baptist has increased the capital investment for the planned Greensboro Medical Center to more than $423 million.
Baptist received final certificate of need approval from state health regulators in August for the 36-bed hospital — nearly 1½ years after the system’s controversial proposal.
A CON is required before a health system or provider can build a facility, purchase equipment or offer a surgical procedure, among other things. The main objective is to prevent unnecessary duplication of services in a community or region.
Mark Payne, director of North Carolina’s Department of Health Services Regulation, signed Cone’s July 11 decision to withdraw its complaint against Atrium’s proposed hospital.
The department said Friday that the medical office building is part of the overall Greensboro Medical Center CON application.
The concessions that paved the way for a second hospital in Greensboro may never be revealed to the public because of a confidentiality agreement reached between Cone, Baptist and High Point Regional Health System.
When Cone was asked Friday if the settlement included the medical office building, he said “no comment.”
For regulatory purposes, the 36 beds technically constitute a campus of High Point Hospital.
Atrium’s plans to enter the Greensboro hospital market were revealed in February 2023 with the publication of Baptist’s CON application.
Atrium, Baptist and Cone engaged in public demonstrations of disagreement with each other’s claims, including at a public hearing on the NC Division’s proposal to regulate health services.
Cone stated his opposition in full-page ads in the News & Record and the Winston-Salem Journal. She asked state health regulators to reject Baptist’s application.
“Overlapping services and facilities concentrated in certain pockets of our communities only exacerbate already pronounced health care disparities,” Cone said in the ad. “Let’s not confuse market entry with ‘community investment.’ “
Chronology
The proposed Baptist-affiliated hospital would be located about 1.1 miles from the Cone MedCenter Greensboro facility.
It will have at least 152 full-time employees at full capacity.
The hospital will have 12 observation beds, 20 emergency rooms, two operating rooms, two procedure rooms, two CT scanners, one fixed MRI scanner and other radiology and imaging equipment.
Baptist originally projected construction to begin by December 2024, with a goal of opening by July 2026.
The 12-page agreement lists the following schedule details: a March 18, 2026, deadline to receive the necessary funding for the hospital; architectural drawings must be completed by February 2, 2027; construction could begin on June 4, 2027; and the first occupancy date for the building is November 1, 2028.
However, the filing and approval of the CON application do not provide insight into why Cone agreed to dismiss its complaint and what conditions, if any, Atrium and Baptist accepted in order to obtain a settlement.
Citing a confidentiality agreement, Atrium and Cone declined to provide details of their negotiations, which appear to have lasted several months.
Cone said “both organizations agree that this decision is in the best interests of all parties involved.”
Atrium said “we are pleased to have reached an agreement on this project, which will allow us to continue to meet the growing needs of those who live and work in Greensboro. We look forward to sharing more details at the appropriate time.”
Cone-Risant Initiative
When asked about the potential impact of the planned takeover of Cone by Risant Health, announced June 21, on the settlement, Cone cited the confidentiality agreement.
“We’ve said all we’re going to say about the Atrium controversy,” Cone said in July.
Washington-based nonprofit charity group Risant is affiliated with California-based Kaiser Permanente, which is pursuing a national network that combines insurance and health care. Kaiser has about $101 billion in revenue in 2023. Risant is run separately from Kaiser.
Cone and Risant said in a joint news release that Cone “will retain its brand, name and mission and maintain its own board, CEO and leadership team. It will continue to work with health plans, provider organizations and independent physicians.”
Cone CEO Dr. Mary Jo Cagle said patients “will see the same doctors, the same nurses and the same staff in the same locations as they do today. We do not anticipate any changes in the types of care we provide as a result of becoming part of Risant Health.”
The groups expect the deal to close by the end of the year.
Cagle said the groups would not be able to provide an exact capital investment commitment until regulatory approvals are secured and the transaction closes.