Local

Presbyterian applies to open Huntersville hospital

By SHERRY KITTS, Staff Writer

Jan. 30, 2002 - HUNTERSVILLE — For almost 100 years, Charlotte-based Presbyterian Hospital has been expanding and growing. Now its parent company Presbyterian Healthcare is asking for state approval to build a 60-bed facility, in the Huntersville area.

 “We believe citizens in North Mecklenburg want a hospital, Presbyterian media relations spokesperson, Judy Morganthall said. “We feel that patients shouldn’t have to come all the way into Charlotte for healthcare.”

Hospital officials say there is a need to serve patients in the growing area. Huntersville mayor Kim Phillips agrees.

“We are very excited about it,” Phillips said. “I believe the population warrants having our own hospital.”

The hospital has filed a Certificate of Need (CON) application asking the state for permission to build in Huntersville, off I-77 at Exit 23 on Gilead Road. The 21-acre site is located in the Huntersville Business Park.

Upon completion, the hospital would be 165,000-square-feet, built at a cost of $55.7 million dollars.

 “We are waiting on approval from the state,” Morganthall said, adding that a decision could come as early as the end of February.

If approved, construction would begin in May 2003 and would be completed by July 2005.

Morganthall said the hospital has received 8,000 letters in support of the new facility.

“I believe Huntersville is behind it,” Morganthall said. “I don’t believe that has been any opposition.”

In a written release, Morganthall said the approval of Presbyterian’s CON application will improve access to healthcare while enhancing choice, offer competition for hospital services and will not adversely impact any existing provider, as demonstrated in the CON application.

However, said Huntersville’s mayor, if the hospital gets approval, the competition will have a say.

“There is usually automatic appeal,” Phillips said.

Phillips said she expects Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, located in the Mooresville area off I-77 at Exit 33, to appeal a favorable decision for Presbyterian.

If approved, the new Presbyterian Hospital would be 10 miles south of 117-bed LNRMC.

A spokeswoman for Lake Norman Regional executive director Paul Smith, Jr.  said he would have  “no comment,” to make on Presbyterian’s application.

 Phillips said the prospective hospital’s site is a good location, because it is “centrally located” and will be convenient from I-77.

If approved, the new hospital will feature an emergency department, labor and delivery, eight operating rooms, and a Level 2 neonatal intensive care unit.

The proposal also calls for larger outpatient and emergency-room areas, not on the original CON application.

Since it was founded in 1903, Presbyterian Hospital has grown with Charlotte.

The hospital moved from its original location on Church Street to Arlington Hotel on West Trade Street, and had 45 beds.

Then, the hospital shared the building with a barbershop, N.C. Medical College, a fruit stand, and the Last Chance Saloon.

Today, located on Hawthorne Avenue, the hospital has 554 beds and serves approximately 976,000 patients throughout the region.

Morganthall said Presbyterian has been servicing residents in north Mecklenburg for years, through the many facilities that are now available.

 The most recent addition is Presbyterian Fitness Center that is located in Huntersville at 11725 Verhoeff Drive.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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