Atrium Health Is Not New Here
Atrium Health is not just arriving with a promise. We are returning with a track record.
Since 2007, Atrium Health has managed Columbus Regional Healthcare System and employed their medical group, establishing a long-standing presence in the broader region. Through our partnership we have helped build a broad primary care network and recruited key specialists to the market, including Hospitalists, Orthopedics, Urology, General Surgery and Cardiology.
We know the physicians here. We know the patients. We know what this community needs and what it deserves.
Think about what it means to need a specialist and wait weeks for an appointment. To drive hours for care your family needs. To have no real choice in where you receive care when the only hospital nearby is stretched beyond capacity.
These are not hypothetical situations. They are the reality for too many families in Southeastern North Carolina today. And we have seen it firsthand.
Our Presence Across North Carolina
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30
hospitals
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400+
sites of care
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76,000+
teammates
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7,600+
employed providers
Access. Quality. Choice.
The Wilmington area has added 76,000 new residents in recent years and is still growing. The region's hospital currently operates at over 92% occupancy. When a hospital is that full, wait times go up and options go down.
The 2026 State Medical Facilities Plan identifies a need for 225 additional hospital beds in New Hanover County. Atrium Health is responding to that documented need with a Certificate of Need application.
Our proposed hospital would:
- Expand access to high-quality care for families across southeastern North Carolina
- Give patients a real choice in where they receive care
- Bring nationally recognized Cancer, Heart & Vascular and Neurosciences programs to the region, including access to one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country
- Strengthen the local health care workforce and create meaningful employment opportunities in the region
World Class Care, Rooted in North Carolina
Atrium Health brings nationally recognized programs and world class care through our national service lines, including Cancer, Heart & Vascular and Neurosciences. As part of Advocate Health, one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the country, our patients have access to the depth and breadth of expertise, resources and innovation that few health systems can match.
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Cancer
- 1M+ cancer screenings per year
- 200K+ cancer patients cared for per year
- Nearly 20K patients enrolled in cancer clinical trials per year
- One of 45 sites in the U.S. to offer proton beam therapy & the only center in the Carolinas
- First Planetree Gold-Certified Cancer Center
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Heart & Vascular
- 570K+ patients treated per year
- 800+ employed specialty providers across 220+ care locations
- One of the largest multisite heart transplant programs in the country with 250+ transplants and ventricular assist device (VAD) procedures per year
- Among the top programs for Cardiology, Heart & Vascular Surgery per U.S. News & World Report
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Neurosciences
- 25K+ surgical cases per year
- 800+ employed and independent providers across 130+ care locations
- Five Level 1 neuro critical care units
- First in the nation to receive Joint Commission certification in Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis & ALS
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Behavioral Health
Behavioral health is not an afterthought at Atrium Health. It is a core part of how we deliver care. From virtual therapy in schools to integrated behavioral health services in primary care clinics to inpatient psychiatric care, we meet people where they are – because mental health is health.
In North Carolina, our behavioral health footprint includes:
- Two dedicated behavioral health hospitals
- North Carolina’s only 24/7 freestanding behavioral health emergency department
- Virtual therapy in 247 schools
- 259K+ behavioral health visits per year
- 242 inpatient psychiatric beds
- 86K virtual behavioral health visits per year and growing
- Behavioral health services integrated into nearly 200 primary care sites
A Hub for Academic Medicine and Innovation
We bring the largest academic footprint in North Carolina, including two medical school four-year campuses, two allied health colleges, and more than 1,200 residents and fellows across 173 Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs. Through our Academic Alliance, we partner with 16 academic institutions across our footprint, creating a powerful network that accelerates discovery and trains the next generation of clinicians.
What that means for patients in Wilmington is direct access to that same depth of expertise and innovation right here in their community. Advanced specialty care that families in this region have historically had to travel far to receive will be available closer to home through Atrium Health's national service lines and clinical network.
Academic Leadership Across North Carolina
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1,200+
residents and fellows
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2
medical school campuses
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2
allied health colleges
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2
Innovation Districts in Winston-Salem and Charlotte
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6,600+
active clinical research studies and trials
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170+
residency and fellowship programs
Atrium Health is nationally recognized as one of the most innovative health care systems in the country, with two Innovation Districts in North Carolina that bring together talent, ideas and capital to accelerate health care breakthroughs. Our vision is to extend that same spirit of innovation and research to southeastern North Carolina.
The Financial Strength to Deliver
Words are easy. What matters is the ability to follow through.
Atrium Health, as part of Advocate Health, carries the strongest credit rating among the top five largest health systems in the nation, rated Aa2 by Moody's and AA by S&P, both with stable outlooks. That financial strength means we can fund both planned and future investments and fulfill all of our commitments to this community for the long term.
A Commitment to Value
Atrium Health manages more than 2.4 million lives in value-based arrangements across our enterprise. We believe the best health care system is one that keeps people healthy, not just one that treats them when they are sick. Our approach emphasizes ambulatory care, digital enablement and value-based models that prioritize access, quality and affordability, meeting patients where they are rather than waiting for them to come to us.
Our Commitment to North Carolina Communities
Atrium Health has been investing in North Carolina communities for decades, from urban medical centers to rural hospitals and clinics to schools-based sites. Last year alone we provided $600 million in free care to nearly 100,000 patients across the state. And by free, we mean those patients never received a bill because of our generous financial assistance policies.
We are not coming to Wilmington to make a statement. We are coming because this community deserves more than one option for its health care, and because we have spent decades – including more than fifteen years right here in Wilmington – proving we are the kind of partner that delivers.