Here’s something you probably never expected to hear, especially if you’re a basketball fan: Duke and the University of North Carolina (UNC) are teaming up.
Duke Health and UNC Health filed plans on Jan. 28 to build North Carolina’s first standalone children’s hospital, North Carolina Children’s.
The two academic health systems each have children’s hospitals affiliated with their larger campuses. But this hospital, with an estimated 500 acute care beds, will increase their current capacity, according to a press release, allowing them to provide care for more kids.
Theresa Flynn, president of the North Carolina chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told Healthcare Brew the anticipated $2 billion–$3 billion 100+ acre campus will help alleviate a “severe” shortage.
North Carolina has one pediatrician for every 2,634 children, ranking it 21st in the nation in terms of the number of pediatricians and pediatric specialists, according to the American Board of Pediatrics.
“The hope and goal is that [this hospital] is going to be a powerhouse, super attractive place that will attract top talent from around the country,” Flynn said.
Say more. Margaret Mou, an attending pediatric hospitalist in Southern California, explained that freestanding children’s hospitals are designed from the ground up solely with children in mind, whereas children’s hospitals within larger adult campuses may include clinicians and support staff who aren’t specifically trained in pediatrics.
She added that these freestanding facilities attract pediatric specialists and subspecialists because of their resources and because of the volume of patients they see.
A study in the journal Critical Care Medicine suggests they may provide better outcomes, too. Research published in 2016 suggests that ICU care in freestanding children’s hospitals, compared with hospitals on bigger, primarily adult campuses, is associated with better clinical outcomes, like lower intubation and mortality rates, when matching for health variables.
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“I don’t have kids, but if I did, I would rather take my child to a standalone children’s hospital, because I know from the moment I check in, if I were going through the ER, the person that’s checking in my child in the ER is knowledgeable about pediatric patients,” Mou said.
Zooming out. Construction is set to begin by 2027 in a yet-to-be-determined location and last six to eight years, according to a website for the future facility.
The state legislature has bet big that this move will improve care and help meet increasing demand in what has become the ninth biggest and fourth fastest-growing state population in the country, according to the US Census Bureau.
The North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $320 million in initial funding during its 2023 session, according to a legislative summary from Duke.
The new facility will also have a comprehensive behavioral health center, addressing another crucial need, Flynn said.
A 2023 JAMA article found that from 2011 to 2020, the proportion of mental health-related visits to the emergency department approximately doubled among kids and teens nationwide. But the number of pediatric psychiatric beds has not kept up, leaving them without a place to go.
“In every state in the entire USA, there is an absolutely heartbreaking child mental health crisis going on,” Flynn said. “One of the solutions is having places for them to go when they do need that highest level of care.”