Raleigh, N.C.-based WakeMed beat Durham, N.C.-based Duke Health, Raleigh-based UNC Rex Health and three ASCs for permission to build new operating rooms, according to a Feb. 21 report from public radio station WHQR.
North Carolina is a certificate of need state, meaning health systems must apply to add new patient beds and operating rooms, which are then approved or denied by state and local regulatory bodies.
Last year, health systems in Wake County, N.C., got the chance to apply for 45 new acute care beds and two new operating rooms.
Raleigh-based KM Surgery Center, Elizabeth City-based Oakview ASC and Cary-based Duke Health Green Level Ambulatory Surgical Center all applied for the operating rooms in addition to the three health systems but all were beaten out by WakeMed.
The beds were divided among the three major systems.