North Carolina Surgical Hospital holds ribbon-cutting in Chapel Hill

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- UNC Health administrators, staffers, and community members gathered Friday for a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the new North Carolina Surgical Hospital.

"This space will be able to open us up to be able to care for more patients. We're very excited for the expansion of beds," said Stacey Parrish, a clinical nurse who has been with UNC Health since 2014.

The seven-story building features 59 pre- and post-op rooms, 80 private rooms, and 15 observation beds

"The Triangle is certainly growing rapidly, and we want to be able to accommodate that growth. But also the original operating rooms were in a building almost 70 years old, and they were much smaller. Back then the type of equipment and technology that (we were) using is very different than what it is today," said UNC Health President Janet Hadar.

Across Wake, Durham, and Orange counties, the combined population has increased by more than 680,000 residents since 2000. In Wake County alone, census data shows there's been a 40% increase in the 65 and older age group since 2011...

"The population growth and needs for our services has dramatically outpaced our capacity to expand to meet that need. Like many other healthcare systems today, we often do not have the capacity to meet the needs of the population that we serve," said Dr. Caprice Greenberg, the Chair of the UNC Department of Surgery.

Twenty-six operating suites are more than twice as large as existing rooms at the hospital.

"With this new hospital, we are gaining capacity and we will be able to accept more patients and deliver the care and the operations that we need when it's needed, not later," said Greenberg.

The 375,000-square-foot space is the largest addition to the UNC Health Chapel Hill campus since 1952 and enables the use of new tools that are valuable to both patients and residents.

"I'll be pursuing a minimally invasive fellowship and thinking about how much more equipped the faculty will be from providing video feedback to more spacious operating rooms that better accommodate equipment like robotic surgery," said Dr. Anoosh Bahraini.

"We want to make sure that they're able to use technology that is truly cutting edge as we train them. We want them to go off and be expert clinicians. To give you an example, right now we have video technology in every single operating room so that learners outside of the building, even outside of the state can observe surgery occurring real time as if they were there in the room," added Hadar.

The facility will employ about 500 people, with UNC Health looking to hire for more than 100 positions.

"Recruitment has already been tremendous. We're getting the talent that we want and we're excited to expand our workforce here," said Hadar.

Administrators anticipate accepting their first patients in July.