Cone Health has won state approval to build a $250 million, 46-bed hospital in Mebane. In giving approval to the Greensboro-based healthcare system approval, it rejected a similar plan submitted jointly by Novant Health and Duke Health.
Cone Health expects to open the hospital in 2029. Novant Health and Duke Health can appeal the state’s decision. The two healthcare systems did not immediately respond to a question on whether they plan to appeal.
The Mebane hospital would be built at 103 Medical Park Drive, and primarily help eastern Alamance County residents access healthcare and avoid longer trips along Interstate 40/85 for hospital care.
“We’re thrilled to see this project move forward,” says Alamance Regional Medical Center President Chad Boore, who is responsible for Cone Health’s north and east markets, in a release. “It will make a real difference for families in our region.”
Cone Health Mebane Hospital will include:
- 46 acute care beds
- 15 emergency department bays
- 3 general operating rooms
- 1 C-section operating room
- 2 procedure rooms
- 3 obstetric labor, delivery, recovery beds
- 7 observation beds
- Imaging, ancillary and support services
Cone Health had $3.14 billion in revenue in 2024 and has more than 13,000 employees, 150 locations and more than 120 physician practices. Its largest hospital is the 628-bed Moses H. Cone Hospital in Greensboro, along with Wesley Long Hospital and Cone Health Behavioral Health Hospital. It also has the 110-bed Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville.
In December, Cone Health merged with Washington, D.C.-based Risant Health. Risant pledged to invest as much as $1.7 billion and provide expertise in value-based care as part of the cashless transaction. Nonprofit system Kaiser Permanente launched Risant in April 2023.
In North Carolina, healthcare providers are required to obtain permission from the Department of Health and Human Services before offering new institutional health services. In this case, state regulators will look at the requests as competing proposals.