UNC Health Care of Chapel Hill, North Carolina will replace 60-year old operating rooms and modernize the look of the hospital with a new surgical tower at N.C. Memorial Hospital.
The six-story, 150,000-square-foot tower has an estimated cost of $177 million.
To fund the project, UNC Hospitals has received approvals from the General Assembly and UNC Board of Governors to borrow up to $250 million by selling bonds later this year, according to the health system.
The design is being finalized and construction is expected to begin in 2017, according to a statement from Chief Operating Officer Brian Goldstein, MD.
The surgical tower will have large, modern operating suites to better handle complex cases that require larger teams of surgeons and other specialists, the hospital said. The existing operating rooms, built in the 1950s, are small by modern standards.
It will be located directly in front of the hospital for easier access to surgical services and create what the health system called a more modern façade.
The surgical tower was previously considered for several other sites on UNC Hospitals Chapel Hill campus. The location in front of Memorial Hospital will reduce the cost of the project by avoiding relocation of the loading dock and nearby ambulance bays during construction.
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