A Charlotte foundation is putting $100 million behind one of the largest hospital projects ever planned in North Carolina.
The Duke Endowment has awarded the money to North Carolina Children’s, the new pediatric health system created by Duke Health and UNC Health. The project centers on a roughly 500-bed children’s hospital planned to be built between Charlotte and Raleigh in the town of Apex.
The sprawling campus is expected to cost at least $2 billion, with some estimates reaching roughly $3 billion. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027 and could take about six years.
Charlotte Is Playing a Major Role
The Duke Endowment is headquartered in Charlotte and is separate from Duke University and Duke Health. The $100 million grant is the largest publicly announced private donation to the project so far.
Another Charlotte company has already made a major contribution.
Coca-Cola Consolidated, headquartered in Charlotte, announced a $25 million gift earlier this year. North Carolina Children’s ultimately hopes to raise more than $1 billion in private donations.
State lawmakers have also committed about $425 million to the project.
One of North Carolina’s Largest New Medical Campuses
The hospital will sit on roughly 230 acres near U.S. 1 and Interstate 540 inside Apex’s massive Veridea development.
Current plans include:
- A roughly 500-bed freestanding children’s hospital
- A separate pediatric behavioral health hospital with about 70 beds
- An ambulatory surgery center
- A large medical office building
- Major research and education facilities
- Programs connected to both Duke and UNC medical schools
UNC Health paid about $89 million for 219 acres earlier this year and plans to acquire another roughly 10 acres.
The campus is expected to create approximately 8,000 jobs when fully developed. State officials have previously estimated thousands of additional indirect jobs could follow.
North Carolina’s First Freestanding Children’s Hospital
North Carolina already has major pediatric hospitals operated by Duke and UNC, but those are attached to larger medical campuses.
The Apex project is planned as the state’s first freestanding hospital built specifically around children. NC Children’s has described the broader system as the first independent, freestanding children’s health system in the Carolinas.
The nationally known architecture firm HDR has been selected as master designer and architect for the campus. Specialized firms will also help design areas including the behavioral health hospital.
Groundbreaking is planned for 2027, with the hospital expected to open in the early 2030s.
If current plans hold, North Carolina Children’s will combine a 500-bed hospital, behavioral health campus, research center and medical education complex into one of the largest healthcare developments underway anywhere in the state.
