Raleigh, North Carolina.  Is Everyone In Wake County Sick?   Because of explosive growth in Wake County and all of the Triangle area there is great demand for more and more medical facilities.  WakeMed, Rex and Duke seem bent on seeing to it that it is provided.  Expansion to the tune of $249 million is planned between WakeMed and Rex near their main facilities.  WakeMed Health & Hospitals says the tab for an inpatient facility at its’ main New Bern Avenue location should cost about $99 million.  Rex Healthcare wants a $150 million outpatient facility across from its’ main campus on Blue Ridge Road.  The medical folks talk about hospitals as if they were Universities.  Considering all the training that goes on in them I suppose that isn’t too far fetched.  At any rate the Rex project calls for a 130,000 square foot three-story building that would include urgent-care services, labs, diagnostic imaging equipment and operating rooms.  There will be 85,000 square feet of offices and a 1,000 space parking deck.  Completion is targeted for 2012.

The WakeMed expansion calls for a four-story 168,000 square-foot building (in the background do you hear the faint strains of “Anything you can do I can do better”?).  It would provide 102 medical-surgery, intensive care, rehabilitation and pediatric beds.  There would also build a 1,200 car parking deck. 

WakeMed, Rex and Duke University Health System have opened a dozen or more outpatient centers around the Triangle during the last two years and indicate that more are on the way. 

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com 

Raleigh, North Carolina.  WakeMed Health & Hospitals will spend $100 million to provide greater health care services.  On their main campus they will build a four story, 60 bed cardiac inpatient tower. It will cost about $34 million.  A new parking deck will be built to replace an existing parking deck that is being demolished to provide space for this tower.  Also, a new central cooling plant will be built. In addition, they will increase the size of their ReHab Hospital by 16 beds which will bring that facilities total to 84.  During 2005, WakeMed performed 1,032 open heart surgeries which was more than the number done by Rex Hospital, UNC Hospitals and Durham Regional Hospital combined.  The expansion is designed to help meet the needs of the Triangle areas every expanding population of elderly residents.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com