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Medical Facilities Planned near Highways 49 and 160 (June 28, 2007) Carolinas HealthCare System is seeking approval to build a freestanding emergency department with outpatient diagnostic and treatment services and a medical office building on land it owns west of the intersection of Highways 49 and 160 in Steele Creek. The proposed $19 million emergency department, also known as a healthplex, would be a 1-story building with approximately 15,000 square feet. It would be open 24 hours and have eight exam/treatment rooms; outpatient diagnostic imaging including a CT scanner, ultrasound, and diagnostic x-ray; laboratory services; and two observation beds. It would not have beds for overnight stays. Instead, patients who needed surgery or other services not available at the Steele Creek healthplex would be transferred to other facilities. Also planned for the site is a 2-story medical office building with approximately 40,000 square feet. It would have offices for pediatrics, OB/GYN, and other general services. The Urgent Care Center that Carolinas HealthCare System operates on South Tryon Street just north of Westinghouse Blvd would remain open and continue to serve the community's minor emergency needs. The N.C. Division of Facility Services will hold a public hearing on the application for a certificate of need for the healthplex at 1 p.m. on July 11 in Room 267 of the Government Center at 600 E. Fourth St. in Charlotte. Carolinas HealthCare Systems is responding to the rapid growth in the Steele Creek area and sees the need for improved local access to an emergency department and other expanded healthcare facilities in a location that is more convenient to Steele Creek residents than the Carolinas Medical Center in Pineville. They hope to have the new healthplex facility completed and open by fall 2009.
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