HILLSBOROUGH – After breaking ground more than two years ago, UNC’s newest hospital in Hillsborough is open for patients.

The Hillsborough UNC hospital’s medical office opened July 1; the complete facility is still two years from completion.

Vice president of facilities planning and development for UNC Health Care, Ray Lafrenaye, says the 60,000 square foot building holds a number of different departments.

“Some of the clinics and services that are in the building are hematology, medical oncology, laboratory services, radiology, urology, GI medicine, dermatology and skin cancer, pelvic health, OB/GYN and surgical oncology,” Lafrenaye says.

Lafrenaye says the UNC Hillsborough hospital is an extension of the main campus hospital, built to transfer the high volume of patients to another treatment location.

“Right now, on the main campus, we’re at 90 percent, 95 percent capacity, running most of the time,” Lafrenaye says.

The main campus’s high volume is due largely to UNC being a state hospital, thus taking patients from all over the state.

Lafrenaye says the hospital itself should be finished on July 2015. It will be 256,000 square feet and will hold 68 patient beds.