Dive Brief:
- Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Novant Health and Durham, North Carolina-based Duke University Health System will partner to build an unspecified number of new campuses across North Carolina, according to a Monday press release.
- The partnership aims to increase patient access to primary care and advanced specialty treatment, as well as shorten wait times for care.
- Construction on the first sites will begin this summer, and facilities will open approximately 18 months after work begins, according to the news release.
Dive Insight:
Novant and Duke say the collaboration will allow them to accelerate the pace of innovation and invest in care quality. Ahead of 2025, experts predicted health systems would collaborate to expand their reach and share overhead costs.
“We have a shared vision for what healthcare can look like, and our collaboration means the communities we serve together will benefit from our combined focus on quality, innovation, and excellence in patient care and experience,” said Carl Armato, president and CEO of Novant Health, in the release.
While some provider partnerships have been recently driven by financial distress, Novant and Duke both had solid operating metrics as of their last financial updates.
Novant, which operates 19 hospitals, reported $919.8 million in excess revenue over expense for the year ended Dec. 31, compared with $460.8 million in 2023.
Duke Health, which operates three hospitals, reported $175.7 million in excess revenue over expense for the six month period ending Dec. 31, a slight dip compared to the same period last year.
Novant has previously shared plans to grow across the Southeast, and formalized a regional leadership model in February the system said will facilitate expansion.
However, some of Novant’s recent growth attempts haven’t panned out.
Novant applied for a Certificate of Need to build hospitals in Asheville and the Triangle region of North Carolina, but state regulators have denied the proposals twice so far, according to COO John Gizdic.
The executive told Healthcare Dive in an interview last month there was “tremendous need” for services in both regions, and that Novant plans to reapply for a CON for both projects.
However, the executive said Novant is being selective about growth opportunities as the system charts its path for the next five years.
“We’re not growing to grow. We really want to make sure that we are bringing more convenient, more accessible, more affordable care to communities,” Gizdic said. “As we grow, we want to stay true to our commitments around those areas of safety and quality and the remarkable patient experience... At the same time, there’s tremendous need in in many locations for high quality, affordable, convenient healthcare, and we believe we can bring that to those communities.”
