Thursday was a big day for the partnership between UNC Health and Duke Health systems.
Health leaders were in Apex describing how NC Children’s hospital will not only allow for clinicians to care for more kids, but drive innovation to provide answers to some of pediatric medicine’s most complex conditions.
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“We’re going to say with full hearts and open arms, welcome to NC Children’s!” said Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert.
In a rare combination of blues – Duke and UNC are joining forces as the health staples behind the state’s first free-standing children’s hospital.
"We provide wonderful care but it’s hard to provide that care solely just for kids at a scale that’s large enough to keep kids here in the state and to keep the practitioners here and develop the next generation of leaders," said Dr. Craig Albanese with Duke Health.
The hospital will be built on a multi-acre plot of land in Apex, creating a brand-new medical campus with more than 500 beds. One hundred of them will be dedicated for behavioral health to meet a growing demand for care.
According to NCDHHS data, over 33,000 children statewide between 5-to-18 years old with Medicaid were diagnosed with clinical depression in 2022. There were 102,000 diagnosed with ADHD and nearly 11,000 with substance use disorders.
"Right now we have 25 pediatric cardiologists at one place and 15 at another," said UNC Health CEO Wesley Burks. "When we have 40, we’ll now have five people that do pediatric ultrasounds in newborn infants. That’s a specialty that can’t be replicated with where we are right now and that’s why people are going to come here from out of state."
Researchers say it will also fuel innovation with $120 million in anticipated NIH grant funding.
"I think the other piece of it is the ability to do clinical trials, where children that have things we don’t know the answer to, participate in providing evidence-based research that then goes on to influence the care in the future," said Duke Health's Mary Klotman.
Plans currently call for a 2027 groundbreaking – with construction lasting about six years.