Novant Health plans to submit a certificate of need (CON) application by June 15 for its proposed 120-bed heart and vascular tower. The proposal would compete with UNC Health’s CON application for a proposed community hospital on a 62-acre site in Wilmington. 

Earlier this year, the 2026 North Carolina State Medical Facilities Plan (SMFP) identified a need for 225 inpatient beds in New Hanover County and 18 beds in Brunswick County, with a review date of July 1. The deadline to apply for those beds is June 15. So far, only Novant Health and UNC Health have confirmed plans to apply for inpatient beds by the deadline. 

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services' (NCDHHS) Division of Health Service Regulation (DHSR) has 90 to 150 days to review a CON application. 

“Each application is reviewed against the review criteria in the CON Law and any applicable rules adopted by DHSR,” a spokesperson from NCDHHS said in a statement. 

During a competitive review process, “the approval of one or more of the applications may result in the denial of another application reviewed in the same review period,” according to the DHSR website. 

“If two or more applications are determined to be part of a competitive review, the Agency reviews each application independently against the review criteria in the CON Law and any applicable rules adopted by the Agency,” the website said. “The Agency then conducts a comparative analysis of the applications to determine which application to approve. The need determination in the SMFP is a determinative limit on the number of beds, services or equipment that the Agency can approve."

UNC Health’s proposed community hospital would be located on the southeast corner of South 17th Street and Shipyard Boulevard. 

Officials have not yet disclosed the full scope of the project, including expected costs or the number of inpatient beds. However, Ernie Bovio, regional president of UNC Health’s Southeast Coastal Region, said the system plans to apply for “a big chunk, if not all,” of the 225 beds. UNC Health is targeting an opening date of 2030 for the facility.

Bovio, who previously served as president of the Novant Health Coastal Region before beginning his role at UNC Health, told the Business Journal in May that the region is at an “inflection point for healthcare,” making it essential for providers to keep pace with growing healthcare needs. 

“Novant’s working very, very hard to do that and is making some great investments and doing some great things in the community,” Bovio said, “but it’s not keeping up and it won’t.”

In February, Novant Health announced plans to invest over $1 billion in new construction and renovations in the region. The projects, which are pending regulatory approval, include a new 120-bed heart and vascular patient tower on South 17th Street, an 80,000-square-foot heart and vascular medical office building, a physical rehabilitation hospital and renovations at Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center (NHRMC). 

“Our vision is to build on the nationally recognized clinical care of our expert heart and vascular teams, who have already advanced the level and scope of care available,” said Laurie Whalin, president of Novant Health NHRMC and acute care operations for the Novant Health Coastal Region, in an email. “The patient tower will include inpatient beds, surgical spaces for minimally invasive and complex surgical procedures, cardiac catheterization labs for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and electrophysiology labs.”

While Novant Health currently owns the only hospital in the county – the 823-bed Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center – providers including UNC Health and Columbus Regional Healthcare System have pointed to the growing healthcare needs driven by the region’s rapid population growth. 

In April, Columbus Regional was given approval to build a $214 million, 30-bed hospital miles apart from Novant Health’s proposed $251 million, 20-bed hospital in Leland. Both projects remain subject to conditional approval. 

Atrium Health, another major North Carolina health system, declined to discuss any potential CON applications but said it is "continuously assessing opportunities to expand care in ways that best serve our patients."

"It's no secret southeastern North Carolina has become a destination, and the region continues to see population growth and new businesses, which has prompted the state to allow 225 new hospital beds in New Hanover County," said Whalin. "Based on the size of the bed count, we fully expected this to be a competitive process."

Following the application submittals on June 15, DHSR will open a written public comment period, followed by a public hearing, which Bovio said he expects will take place in August. 

According to Bovio, UNC Health’s proposed community hospital has already gathered local support, which he identifies as essential to the project’s completion. According to Change.org, 570 people have signed a petition addressed to CON project analysts in support of the proposed hospital.