FirstHealth of the Carolinas Receives Approval to Build a Hospital in Hoke County
| Date Posted: 9/28/2010
PINEHURST – FirstHealth of the Carolinas is very pleased to announce that the North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulation has approved the health system’s 2010 request to construct a FirstHealth hospital in Hoke County.
“We are pleased the state saw the value in our application again for 2010,” says Charles T. Frock, CEO of FirstHealth of the Carolinas. “The detailed planning for construction of the FirstHealth Hoke Community Hospital is well under way, and we hope to open the doors of the new hospital in early 2012. This is a great day for Hoke County residents. We look forward to moving ahead with the project and believe the choice that will be available to the residents of Hoke County is to everyone’s benefit. It is our hope that the process will move forward without delay and the added burden of additional appeals.”
The FirstHealth Hoke Community Hospital will house a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week emergency room staffed by Pinehurst-based Moore Regional Hospital physicians. In addition to the emergency beds, the hospital will include eight inpatient beds, an overnight observation unit and one operating room, full laboratory services, state-of-the-art imaging technology, diagnostic cardiology and transport options via critical care transport or helicopter.
The initial hospital will be built to allow for expansion. Future plans for the 30-acre medical complex site located on Highway 401 include medical office space and other health care-related services and facilities.
“Speaking as a longtime resident of Hoke County, it’s extremely gratifying to get our own hospital,” says Julian King, vice chair of the FirstHealth of the Carolinas Board of Directors. “A hometown hospital strengthens the sense of community, and I am so pleased at the decision to have FirstHealth bring Moore Regional Hospital-quality health care to Hoke County.”
In a separate matter, on Aug. 17, the Surgery Center of Pinehurst and FirstHealth re-submitted an application to build a free-standing ambulatory surgical center (ASC) that had been denied by the state in 2009. To ensure full consideration by the state, the partnership had re-filed an ASC application in 2010. The state has denied the 2010 application as well.
“The Surgery Center of Pinehurst’s Board will receive a written report from the state regarding the ASC application, and they will determine the best course of any future action,” says Frock.
FirstHealth began providing health services in Hoke County in the early 1990s with physician practices. Soon after that, FirstHealth constructed a multi-million-dollar Family Care Center and Center for Health & Fitness in Raeford. Dental care services were added for Medicaid-eligible children, and FirstHealth began coordinating specialist visits to enhance the scope of offerings available to residents.
