General News
A $110 million expansion to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center will add 100 beds and reduce wait times in the emergency room, Cape Fear Valley Health announced Wednesday.
The expansion will include additional ICU beds and private rooms for medical/surgery inpatient and observation, according to a news release. The project will raise Valley Pavilion from five to seven stories.
Two rooftop helipads will be part of the construction, allowing patients to be taken directly by elevator to the Emergency Department, the release said.
Completion is scheduled for the fall of 2024.
“We recognized that we need this expansion to meet the growing needs of our community and to provide meaningful assistance to reduce delays in our Emergency Department,” Mike Nagowski, chief executive officer for Cape Fear Valley Health, said in the release. “We expect that this will dramatically improve wait times in the ER.”
When completed, Nagowski said an additional 187 full-time equivalent positions at the medical center will be in place. He said the expansion has been part of the hospital’s long-term planning, and the health system has been saving for the project.
The helipads will be included for more rapid patient transport.
“Our plan is that one of the helipads will be structured to accept Blackhawk helicopters,” Nagowski said in the release. “We want to make sure we have complete readiness if it was needed, because of our proximity to Fort Bragg.”
Construction will not interrupt daily operations at the hospital.
“It was a major consideration because we need to be adding onto this facility while it’s occupied,” Nagowski said. “During different phases of construction, there may be some traffic pattern adjustments around our entrances, but they will remain open. We don’t expect the project to affect traffic on Owen Drive or Village Drive at all.”
Construction contractors are Little Diversified Architectural Consulting and Rodgers Builders Inc., according to the release.
It will be the first major expansion to the medical center’s main campus central building since 2008 when the five-story Valley Pavilion opened. That expansion added 132 acute care beds to the hospital’s capacity, as well as new adult and pediatric Emergency Departments, a Heart & Vascular Center, Bariatric Center, Women’s Pavilion, Surgical Pavilion and imaging department, the release said.
Not counting behavioral health beds, the medical center has 524 acute care beds and 78 rehabilitation beds.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
