Twenty-six bigger operating rooms, with 59 pre- and post-operative suites. Eighty ICU beds and 15 observation beds. All within 375,000 square feet inside a $425 million building.
Those are just some of the numbers around the North Carolina Surgical Hospital, the latest addition to the UNC Hospitals campus in Chapel Hill. Dozens of people were some of the first to visit on Friday, as the health care system held a ribbon-cutting and allowed people to tour the expanded operating spaces. The seven-story building, which first broke ground in 2019, will soon be where almost all of the surgical operations at UNC Hospitals take place and will offer expanded critical care services.
Since surgeries are often when patients are most vulnerable, UNC Health leaders stressed the variety of ways their care will be advanced with the new hospital. From the updated medical spaces to designing rooms with North Carolina scenery and themes, UNC Hospitals Janet Hadar said she hopes the setting will offer families “a sense of peace and respite,” while giving the talented staff a place that compliments their expertise.
“In a place like UNC Hospitals,” Hadar told Chapelboro, “quaternary care is where we really focus. In order to do that, we got to be able to have to space that can accommodate modern technology and equipment. We have IT systems in here that we’ve never been able to have before. It’ll enhance the learning of all of our medical residents in training and really for all of our medical disciplines.”
Dr. Caprice Greenberg, the chair of UNC’s Department of Surgery, agreed and expanded on this during her comments. While only having arrived at UNC two years ago, she said she understands the importance of having the tower up and running. Several nationally renowned programs will now have even better resources to be on the cutting-edge of their operations and patient care, according to Greenberg.
“This state-of-the-art facility has built-in equipment that really allows us to take some of our marquee programs to the next level,” she told Chapelboro, “in terms of our vascular surgery, our different cross-disciplinary programs, [and more.]”
The entrance of the seven-story North Carolina Surgical Hospital off Hospital Drive.
A wide shot of the new North Carolina Surgical Hospital, as taken in January. (Photo via Sarah Kurzel.)
Those upgrades will make a difference for current staff, which Greenberg said are beginning to see the space themselves. She said with the challenges in health care over the COVID-19 pandemic and facing staff shortages, having the surgical tower come online will be a helpful boost to those employees — who Hadar added will now have a building to match their talent.
“With all the new beautiful features we’ve got here,” Hadar said during her speech, “it’s really about what our teams bring into this space that makes this hospital special. It makes it a beacon of hope and health for our state. As we celebrate today and celebrate the new, I encourage you to also celebrate what is not changing: the quality, empathetic, and expert Carolina care that we’re known for.”
It will also require UNC Hospitals to boost its employee numbers. Greenberg said about 500 people will regularly work in the North Carolina Surgical Hospital, an increase of 100 staff. Hadar acknowledged the facility is an effective recruiting tool, saying the efforts to fill those new roles are going smoothly.
“We’re already seeing the results of our efforts,” the UNC Hospitals president said. “We started recruiting several months ago and the response has been tremendous, which we’re really excited about. And [Thursday] we had an open house for all of our teammates and medical staff, and just the excitement in the voices, the morale was lifted already. We’re delighted to be able to offer this to them.”
One of the new, third-floor operating rooms in the North Carolina Surgical Hospital. UNC Health says the spaces have some of the newest technology, which is afforded by having more space in each OR compared to current facilities.
A sixth-floor ICU room in the surgical hospital, which not only has North Carolina themes and upgraded amenities but a view of the UNC water tower.
The North Carolina Surgical Hospital is the largest addition to the UNC Hospitals footprint since the Chapel Hill site was constructed in 1952. With that modern construction came some disruption – not just to the hospital campus, but to the surrounding area of UNC and the town.
UNC Health CEO Dr. Wesley Burks thanked the local stakeholders and residents for their support across the more than five years it took for the surgical center to be actualized.
“A project this large could not have been done without a lot of disruption to your life,” said Burks. “Traffic, parking, and walking across the street, how you walked around the building… the grace and elegance, your patience and flexibility in the last five years has been amazing. So, sincerely, thank you for what you’ve done.”
Burks closed his remarks before the ribbon-cutting on Friday with his own anecdote, sharing his wife recently had a series of surgeries at UNC related to a cancer diagnosis. He said that time spent with the hospital’s staff helped affirm how the hospital campus is leading the way to ensure patients have the best possible outcomes and experiences.
“The compassion, the knowledge, the care, the grace, the empathy they provided [my wife] and our family was way more than I even hoped or expected,” said Burks. “But what I did appreciate, then, was the place it was being given in. The home that the people providing that care had, and [I] realized the importance of that in our experience – my family’s experience – as we walked through that. So, some of the excitement I have today is just personal.”
The North Carolina Surgical Hospital is still getting some finishing touches on its floors and Greenberg said staff are continuing to run simulations to bring patients from other areas of the hospital campus to the new building. UNC Health projects the facility to be welcoming patients for operations by mid-July.
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