Atrium Health is set to debut its first hospital in nearly 40 years in Union County

Atrium Health is preparing to open its first hospital in decades this month, serving western Union County.

Atrium Health Union West, at the intersection of U.S. 74 and Stallings Road in Stallings, will open Feb. 23 in the fast-growing area of Union County that includes Indian Trail and Matthews, near Mecklenburg County.

The 150,000-square-foot facility is “the first comprehensive new hospital that Atrium Health has opened in a couple of decades,” Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods said in a statement this week.

Atrium Health last built an acute care hospital —Atrium Health University City — in 1985, according to the hospital system.

The more than $150 million hospital will have 40 beds and provide services such as the only breast surgery center in Union County, plus cancer, heart and vascular, and women’s health services, spokesman Brian Hacker said.

The hospital cost was originally listed at $116 million, when construction began two years ago, the Observer reported.

The Atrium Health Union West campus combines in-care and out-care patient needs with a 70,000-square-foot specialty care building next door, according to Atrium. Services there include: cancer, cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology and hepatology, pulmonology, sleep medicine, surgery, urology and women’s care.

And, even before the hospital opens, Union West will host a community drive-in movie night at 6:30 on Feb. 18-19, Hacker said. Friday’s movie is “Raya and the Last Dragon” and Saturday’s movie is “The Lion King – Live Action.”

Atrium Health Union West numbers

Atrium Health Union West will offer imaging services, including MRI, CT scan, X-ray and ultrasound, plus laboratory and pharmacy services.

It will feature:

▪ 40 acute care beds: 30 medical and surgical beds; six labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms; and four intensive care unit beds.

▪ 10 emergency department bays and a helipad.

▪ Four operating rooms — two surgery suites; a cesarean delivery operating room; and a gastrointestinal endoscopy suite.

▪ Three of the operating rooms are 30% larger than any others in the Atrium Health system.

Other services and amenities

The campus offers several other services, too.

“Plans for Atrium Health Union West reveal a space that will be unlike many hospitals,” Dr. Natasha Adams-Denny said at the groundbreaking two years ago. “Great effort was put into designing a calming patient and visitor experience that feels less like a hospital and more like a resort with its fresh, modern look.”

Those amenities include:

▪ Maternity navigator for every stage of pregnancy.

▪ Concierge support before, during and after a patient stay.

▪ Connection to health coaches and other resources.

▪ Healing garden.

▪ Walking path.

Atrium’s other Union County hospital

Atrium Health Union, a 182-bed hospital in Monroe, has been providing comprehensive emergency services and specialty medical care for decades.

The campus offers day surgery center, cancer treatment center, long-term care facility, behavioral health center, specialty care clinics, a community wellness and outreach program, a women and children’s center, heart program and physician practices.

The hospital was county-owned when it opened in 1953 as Union Memorial Hospital, according to Atrium Health. In 1995, it was leased to Carolinas HealthCare System, which was renamed Atrium Health in 2018. After several name changes through the years, the hospital was renamed Atrium Health Union in 2019.

Atrium Health’s expansion

Atrium Health has opened several other new facilities in the past year:

▪ Last year, Atrium Health opened Atrium Health Kenilworth Medical Plaza I and II — a more than 400,000-square-foot plaza on Harding Place in Midtown that cost $228.1 million.

▪ In December, Atrium Health Pineville opened its eight-story Palmetto Tower.

▪ Atrium Health Birkdale Landing Medical Plaza also opened in December, providing the Lake Norman area with primary care access and a walk-in urgent care.

▪ In January, Atrium Health opened an emergency department in Mountain Island.

▪ This month, Atrium Health opened the community care site Archdale Family Medicine, with medical care for all ages, plus onsite social work services, financial assistance and Spanish translation.

Other upcoming projects include Carolinas Rehabilitation and plans to renovate Atrium Health Musculoskeletal Institute and Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital outpatient centers, according to Atrium.

Atrium Health, in collaboration with Wake Forest Baptist Health and Wake Forest School of Medicine, also is building Charlotte’s first four-year medical school on 20 acres at Baxter and South McDowell streets. It’s expected to open in 2024.

This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 11:56 AM.