Duke Health and CaroMont Health are partnering to build a pair of new hospitals in North Carolina’s fast-growing Mecklenburg County, the nonprofits shared Wednesday.
The team-up has taken the first step of filing two Certificate of Need applications, approvals of which by the state are necessary for new hospital builds. One of these would be a 120-bed hospital in the county’s University City area (northeast of Charlotte), and the other an 80-bed facility in the River District (west of Charlotte).
If approved, the pair would form a new jointly led, equally owned company that would run the hospitals, leaving their existing organizations independent. They said they anticipate the state will make its decision by the end of the first quarter of 2027, and that if approved, the hospitals could open in 2031.
The health systems described their applications as the “beginning” of a partnership to boost the area’s healthcare access and capacity, which they said is largely concentrated in the heart of Charlotte. An annual analysis from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released late last year outlined a need for 389 additional beds in the county, the health systems said in the announcement.
“The rapidly growing Charlotte region needs more access to care and more options for the highest quality care locally,” David W. Zaas, M.D., CEO of Duke University Health System, said in the partnership announcement. “Duke Health is bringing its specialty expertise, research and education to Charlotte so more people can access leading academic care closer to home. As two North Carolina health systems with deep roots in this state and a shared commitment to quality, we are the right partners to expand these options for patients.”
Duke is a four-hospital academic system with $8.4 billion in reported revenue in the 2026 fiscal year. It’s largely active in the state’s Research Triangle region, but last year purchased a hospital in the county abutting Mecklenburg from the north for $284 million. The system has also partnered with UNC Health to build the state’s first freestanding pediatric hospital and previously looked to partner with Novant on other new builds in North Carolina (those plans have since been shelved, per North Carolina Health News).
CaroMont Health is a two-hospital system headquartered in Gaston County, which is just west of Mecklenburg, with nearly $1.1 billion in reported revenue in fiscal 2026. It has also pursued expansion, announcing plans to build a hospital just over the border in South Carolina and submitting a bid to build another hospital farther from the Charlotte area.
“Together with Duke Health, we have an opportunity to bring more choices and more advanced care to one of the fastest-growing regions in the country,” CaroMont Health President and CEO Chris Peek said in the announcement.