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Campus Redevelopment
See the Grace Hospital Construction Live Webcam
See the Valdese Hospital Construction Live Webcam - Note: this one loads slowly - just be patient.
View a time-lapse video of construction at Grace (November, 05-March-06) 1.7 meg
View a time-lapse video of construction at Valdese (November, 05-March-06) 1.4 meg
The Best Facilities and Services Close to Home.
The Blue Ridge HealthCare Board of Directors approved a landmark plan organizing hospital services and facilities to focus on major health issues affecting Burke and surrounding counties. The approval sets in motion the largest economic development project in Burke County since Viscotec’s announcement of a new manufacturing plant here in December 2001.
The BRHC Board approved the “Hallmark Services,” that will create six centers spread across the campuses of Grace Hospital in Morganton and Valdese Hospital in Valdese. Five of the centers will be dedicated to tackling many of the major health problems affecting people in Burke and surrounding counties. The sixth Hallmark Service will address healthcare’s increasing shift to outpatient care and shorter hospital stays by constructing new outpatient centers at both hospitals.
The plan will require $20-30 million at Grace Hospital in Morganton and $20-30 million at Valdese Hospital in Valdese over the next five-to-seven years in new construction and technology, as well as renovations to existing inpatient rooms and other areas.
“With 1,700 employees, Blue Ridge HealthCare is the second largest employer in Burke County. It’s important that we make our healthcare system stronger, so we keep these jobs secure and create new employment opportunities in the future,” said BRHC Board Chairman James L. Hatley. “We are also committed to a healthcare system with two acute care hospitals at its heart. We are confident this plan will help us meet both goals for the benefit of our patients and their families, our employees and the physicians in our community,” he said.
The improvements will be funded through a combination of revenues, depreciation and proceeds from bonds BRHC will issue on the private bond market. Actual construction on parts of the massive project will begin in about 1 ½ years, as financing is secured, architectural plans are developed and BRHC receives the go-ahead from the state to proceed with various projects.
BRHC President and CEO Kenneth W. Wood called the plan “an historic step in improving the delivery of healthcare to Burke and surrounding counties.”
“This will enable us to provide many of the services and technology that people now leave Burke County to receive,” he said. “I believe this will move us that much closer to our goal of being ‘The Best Small Healthcare System in America,’ something we believe our community deserves to have.”
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