January News Shorts

December News Shorts

Governor Perdue joined President Wallace and other officials to break ground on the School of Osteopathic Medicine at Campbell University. It has been 35 years since a medical school opened in NC and this one will be the second largest in the state.

November News Shorts

May 23, 2011

May 11, 2011

The Brightwater Science and Technology Campus’ first tenant broke ground today with about 350 guests in attendance. The celebration had long been anticipated as a truly ground breaking event for the entire county and region. This transformational event for Harnett County will be felt near and far. The Brightwater Board of Directors and Harnett Forward Together Board of Directors are reviewing proposals for the second building in the park, a training facility for Central Carolina Community College and Campbell University.

Watch Commissioner McNeill’s remarks

Harnett County leaders joined East Carolina University repre­sentatives Wednesday in official­ly announcing a partnership that will bring dental students to the area and offer reduced cost den­tal care to local patients.

Within four years students on the verge of gaining their doc­tor’s in dentistry degrees and some in the residency stage of training will provide service in the local area at a special training center.

“They will be almost finished so they will be offering quality dental service to people of this area,”said Dr. Jim Hupp, dean of the East Carolina School of Den­tal Medicine.

Dr. Hupp said the announce­ment was huge for his school.

“This is one of the biggest things that has happened at ECU in the last decade,” he said.

When construction is com­plete, the Brightwater Business Park on U.S. 401 near the Harnett County Courthouse will be home to one of the dental school’s learn­ing service centers.

It will be the third similar loca­tion with others located in Sylva and Ahoskie. There are also plans for a location in Elizabeth City and six other yet-to-be named lo­cations.

The facility will be located in a 7,700-square-foot building, with 16 treatment rooms, X-ray equip­ment and educational space.

Harnett County and East Caro­lina reached a tentative agree­ment to build the center in March. The Harnett Forward Together Committee committed up to 1.5 acres to the dental school to clear the way for Wednesday’s an­nouncement. A land commitment was necessary for consideration by the dental school.

Faculty will be stationed at the center to supervise students and will help provide care. The learn­ing service center will offer den­tal services to patients at a re­duced cost on a sliding fee.

“For urgent needs, services will be provided free of charge, that is part of our mission,” Dr. Hupp said. “For people who can pay, fees will be lower than at normal providers.”

Medicaid will be accepted.

The announcement comes in conjunction with the opening of the main campus of the dental school in Greenville. The first class of students there is sched­uled to enter this August, with at least one student from Harnett County is a part of the first 50-member class. Dr. Hupp said those students should progress through the program in time to study in Lillington during their final year if construction stays on schedule here.

The site proposed for the dental school is adjacent to the business park’s first tenant, First Choice Community Health Centers. The facilities will be connected by a covered walkway to allow patients to easily utilize both facilities.

Officials at First Choice Community Health, formerly known as the Western Medical Group, are excited about their prospective neighbor in the Brightwater Park.

“We are proud to be working in collaboration with East Carolina,” First Choice Community Health Chief Executive Officer Sheila Simmons said.

“These two facilities will really have an impact on primary health care in Harnett County,” said Dr. Gregory Chadwick, associate dean for planning and extramural affairs at the ECU Dental School. Board of Commissioners Chair Tim McNeill agreed.

“With the new hospital and First Choice and now the dental school, this is all big news for Harnett County,” Mr. McNeill said.

Harnett Health Services is planning a groundbreaking early this year on a central campus hospital in the park.

“With the new hospital and First Choice and now the dental school, this is all big news for Harnett County.”

— Commissioners Chair Tim McNeill

By: Tom Woerner, Daily Record, January 20, 2011

Harnett Health Systems officials said Tuesday they now have plans to break ground on a new central campus in Lill­ington early next year, with a projected opening date of late 2012.

Harnett Health President and CEO Ken Bryan, speaking at the ribbon cut­ting of the new Harnett Health Lilling­ton Medical Services facility, said his organization is ready to proceed.

“We are working with local banks to secure final financing and that is going to happen,” Mr. Bryan said.

Mr. Bryan would not release details about specific banks that will be used for financing the project.

Much of the finance problem was re­solved last year when Harnett Health received a $63 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

He said the new hospital will be the culmination of a major effort in the cen­tral part of the county.

“We are going to have a major pres­ence here,” he said. “We at Harnett Health want to bring health care closer home to the people of this part of the county. We think this is going to be a big day for Harnett Health Systems and Harnett County.”

Mr. Bryan said the official ground­breaking of the building will likely be in February, with completion in the fall of 2012. The hospital will be the focal point of a medical and technology research park located on U.S. 401, across from the Harnett County Courthouse. It will house 150 beds within the first four years of operation. Initially there will be 100 new jobs created with close to 300 jobs created by the end of the third year. When construction starts it will mark the end of a process that has been ongo­ing for most of the last 10 years. The hospital received permission to build the facility from the state in 2006 after a se­ries of legal battles with Good Hope Hospital.

Good Hope has initially planned to rebuild in Erwin, but couldn’t receive financing. After joining with Triad, financing would have been possi­ble and the pair asked the state for a certificate of need to build in Lil­lington instead. By then, Harnett County, Betsy Johnson, WakeMed and the City of Dunn formed Har­nett Health which instead was awarded the certificate of need to build in Lillington.

Hopes for the Lillington hospital were temporarily dashed last May when it was announced Harnett Health couldn’t secure a HUD loan to pay for the new hospital. Since that time, alternate financing has been sought.

Board of Commissioners Chair Tim McNeill said he is glad the new hospital construction date is almost here.

“I am looking forward to seeing ground being moved, concrete be­ing poured and a building going up on this hospital,” he said. “I am ready for people to finally see what we have talked about for so long is going to become a reality. I think this is going to be part of a good year in Harnett County.”

Mr. McNeill said the process of putting infrastructure in place is ongoing.

“Bids for the water lines are go­ing out this month and construction will begin in January,” Mr. McNeill said.

He said he knows there are peo­ple who still doubt the hospital is coming.

“There will be people who doubt the hospital is being built until we walk through doors and we are touring the new building,” he said.

By: Tom Woerner, Daily Record, December 1, 2010

From left, Old Castle Adams Products Vice President of Finance Todd Ring and Executive Vice President Butch Hardy receive a check from Harnett County Commissioners Vice Chair Bea­trice Hill. The check for $90,032.08 was presented to the business as a refund of ad valorem taxes in return for the business locating in Harnett County. Old Castle produces concrete ma­sonry units out of the Edgerton Business Park off U.S. 301 outside of Dunn. The company, which has approximately 30 employees, began operating in Harnett County in January 2009.

Mr. Hardy said the company’s product is shipped to Raleigh, Greensboro and to Camp Lejeune to be used in building a new base. ‘It has been a real treat ... to work with Harnett County on this project,’ he said. Old Castle is actually located in Commissioner Gary House’s district, but Mrs. Hill was asked to make the check presentation.
Daily Record, October 20, 2010

Funding is now in place that will allow First Choice Com­munity Health centers to build a large medical facility in the heart of the new Brightwater Medical Park in Lillington.

First Choice Community Health, which is based near Mamers, received a $3.5 mil­lion award from the U.S. De­partment of Health and Hu­man Services for a two-story 32,000 square feet health cen­ter in the medical park, across from the existing Harnett County courthouse.

First Choice Chief Execu­tive Officer Sheila Simmons said the building will contain facilities to offer dental, medi­cal and pharmacy services.

“There will be a little bit of everything in this building,” Ms. Simmons said. “This is go­ing to be an extension of what we offer in other parts of the county right in the heart of Lil­lington.”

Facility

The new health center will include 16 exam rooms, two treatment and procedure rooms, a laboratory, x-ray, pharmacy, eight dental opera­tories, patient registration and business functions space, staff support areas, waiting areas, and patient education areas, a patient advocacy office, health education and nutrition center, medical assistance offices, two behavioral health offices, a wellness center, an education center and administrative of­fices.

Ms. Simmons said the proj­ect will initially bring 23 new jobs to the county, with the po­tential for more in the future.

She said she hopes her orga­nization can hold groundbreaking ceremonies within the next 30 days and that the building will be completed by December of next year.

She said U.S. Rep. Bob Ether­idge helped her group obtain funding.

“Congressman Bob Etheridge has been a champion of First Choice Community Health Cen­ters from Day One. Because of Bob’s diligence and commitment, his vision of increased access to care is now a reality,” Ms. Sim­mons said.

Rep. Etheridge said the money will have dual purposes.

“These funds will create good jobs and provide patients in our rural communities with access to high-quality primary care,” Rep. Etheridge said. “Whether you live in a big city or small town, you should be able to see a good doc­tor, in a quality facility. Support­ing this community health center means more people will be able to get health care when they need it.”

By: Tom Woerner, Daily Record, October 12, 2010

A large crowd of public officials and local citizens gathered in Lillington Thursday morning to celebrate the fi­nal piece of financing that will allow construction to begin on a new hospital in the county seat.

Close to 200 people celebrated the receipt of $62 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture which will set the stage for construction to begin on a new hospital in the next several months. The hospital is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

Speakers from the Town of Lilling­ton, the county and those associated with Good Hope thanked the man they say is responsible for securing the money.

“We are entering a new phase of his­tory in Harnett County and we have this man to thank for it,” Board of Com­missioners Chair Tim McNeill said, pointing to U.S. Representative Bob Etheridge.

Mr. McNeill said healthcare is going to be only one aspect of the project.

“This will bring opportuni­ties in health­care, economic development and jobs,” an emo­tional Mr. Mc-Neill said. “I think this hospi­tal is going to help Lillington become a mini Greenville.”

Mr. McNeill was referring to the East Carolina University School of Medicine and the surrounding areas of growth around the hospital.

Harnett Health Systems Chief Ex­ecutive Officer Ken Bryan also ex­pressed his appreciation.

“This is a blessing, we now have the opportunity to bring healthcare close to people’s homes,” Mr. Bryan said. “We want people who live in Harnett County to get healthcare in Harnett County and this is going to help us do that.”

Rep. Ether­idge, the sub­ject of praise from many of the speakers, said he was only a small part of the puzzle that resulted in the hospital funding.

“It takes a total effort to get some­thing done,” Rep. Etheridge said. “There are a lot of folks who worked together on this.”

Hospital War

Mr. McNeill declared an end to what many in the area have called the Great Hospital War. Good Hope Hospital, and its supporters in all parts of the county, fought desperately through the court sys­tem for the opportunity to build a hospital approximately one mile from where the new hospital will stand. The certificate of need was eventually awarded to Harnett Health.

“It is time for the people of Har­nett County to pull together, and move forward,” Mr. McNeill said.

The Town of Lillington was one of Good Hope’s strongest supporters. Then Mayor, and cur­rent Commissioner Grover Smith was one of the original group that was behind the project. Town Manager Tommy Burns said the town is ready to embrace Har­nett Health.

“We are delighted this day has come,” Mr. Burns said. “The hospi­tal will be a tremendous asset for our community and it will have a substantial impact on the quality of life for our citizens.”

The City of Dunn was at the center of the battle to build a new hospital but Mayor Oscar Harris said his town is past the bitter feel­ings against residents in the coun­ty seat.

“The City of Dunn is proud to be a partner in this,” Mayor Harris said. “This is going to improve the livability of all the people in the county. It is government working at its best, for all the people of Harnett County.”

The money was obtained through the USDA’s Rural Devel­opment Community Facilities Loan Program. It will fund a hospi­tal that will eventually bring close to 300 jobs to the area. There will be 100 jobs filled when the facility initially opens.

The hospital will be located in the Brightwater Science and Tech­nology Park, across U.S. 401 from the Harnett County courthouse.

‘This will bring opportunities in healthcare, economic development and jobs.’
— Harnett County Board of Commissioners Chair, Tim McNeill

By: Tom Woerner, Daily Record, October 8, 2010

A new 50-bed acute care hospital facility will be built to serve about 100,000 residents in Harnett County, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Saturday.

“The construction of this hospital with (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) funds will provide needed medical services to the residents of Harnett County, and in the surrounding area,” Vilsack said in a news release.

Harnett Health Systems Inc. in Lillington has been selected to receive a $25 million loan through U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development’s Community Facilities Loan Program to construct a hospital which will provide emergency, general, acute-care and surgical services.

The new medical facility will be on the Brightwater Science and Technology Campus. In addition, the Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital Facility in Dunn, which is part of Harnett Health Systems Inc., will be upgraded to provide to improve radiology, laboratory and cardiology services, Vilsack said.

In addition to the $25 million in Recovery Act loan funds that USDA Rural Development is providing to fund the Harnett Health System’s Central Campus Facility, the recipient will leverage $72.1 million from other sources, Vilsack said.

Source: WRAL.COM