Road construction could begin this summer

by Kara Lopp

Construction of the long-planned hospital near Mint Hill could start as early as this summer with the building of interior roads at the site, Presbyterian Healthcare announced late last week.

The project will be done in three phases, beginning with a 16-bed emergency room, which should open in 2013 off Albemarle Road, just inside Charlotte’s city limits. The other phases include surgical services, with four operating rooms, which should be complete by 2016, and a 50-bed patient tower, scheduled for 2018. The entire hospital, which hasn’t yet been named, must be complete by 2018, based on permits issued by state regulators.

The economy stalled construction plans for several years, Mark Billings, president and CEO of Presbyterian Healthcare, said during the announcement from his Charlotte office Friday, March 4. Presbyterian and Carolinas HealthCare, parent company of Carolinas Medical Center, vied for the chance to build near Mint Hill. Presbyterian won a certificate of need from state officials in July 2007.

Then, “the world changed on us a little bit, and there was a degree of uncertainty,” Billings said. “We paused the project to see what happened with not only the economy, but we had already launched a major improvement project on the main (Presbyterian Hospital) campus” near Uptown Charlotte.

“I think there’s not an industry in this country that didn’t have to take a look at its capital projects. It was my belief that providing care for our patients in the existing communities needed to be a priority,” Billings said.

The organization could have started the Mint Hill-area project sooner if it had slashed the millions of dollars it provides to charity health annually. Billings “wasn’t prepared to do that,” he said. The system donated $432 million in charity care and outreach events in 2009, spokeswoman Sharon Harmon said.

But while Presbyterian waited, the staff redesigned the project.

Before the recession hit, Presbyterian officials planned the hospital as an exact replica of their Huntersville hospital, built in 2004. They initially budgeted $90 million to $110 million, but after taking “some unnecessary costs out of the system,” officials eliminated about 25,000 square feet, enabling the Mint Hill-area hospital to offer larger patient rooms and spend less, Billings said. They now expect to spend $90 million.

The planned 150,000-square-foot hospital sits on 84 acres, compared to 57 acres at Presbyterian Hospital Matthews. The area is prime for expansion, Billings said, including more patient beds and possibly a medical office building. “We’re going to need to have a growth strategy in our mind,” he said.

“I’m encouraged by what I’m hearing from the community,” Billings said. “I feel as confident today that the Mint Hill community truly embraces the Presbyterian brand of healthcare.”

Though the Town of Mint Hill won’t gain tax revenue from the property, the announcement is good news for Mint Hill residents, Mayor Ted Biggers said.

“I don’t believe you can have too many medical facilities close by,” he said. “It’s going to serve a lot of people. I’m excited they’re getting started and will be able to offer this to the people of that section of Mint Hill, east Charlotte and the surrounding area.”

Written by Kara Lopp and courtesy of Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly News 

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