Atrium Health annexation request offers clues on new Fort Mill hospital plan
The business arm of Charlotte-based hospital group Atrium Health wants to annex property into Fort Mill, offering clues for its plans for a new hospital.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority applied to annex nearly 11 acres at Interstate 77 and Sutton Road in York County. The hospital system bought the property in March for $5 million. It’s adjacent to more than 80 acres already owned by Atrium.
Atrium updated its site plan for the property as part of the annexation, which shows land on both sides of Masons Bend Drive as hospital, commercial or residential use.
The annexation isn’t expected to change any land uses for the property but will allow flexibility in development, according to an April letter from Hospital Authority Vice President Bennett Thompson to the town.
Atrium confirmed its plans for a $450 million Fort Mill hospital to The Herald in December. The four-story facility would be 200,000 square feet and have 60 beds, with a separate 73,000-square-foot medical office building, according to the company. Atrium projected a 2029 hospital opening.
The major detail Atrium hasn’t confirmed is the hospital location. Town documents related to the annexation request indicate the hospital will go on the property near the interstate, and will be called Atrium Health Fort Mill.
About Atrium’s hospital plans for Fort Mill
The annexation also involves a fourth amendment to a 2008 development agreement between the hospital system and the town.
The long dormant plan to put a hospital in Fort Mill was paused for years as state law required hospitals to obtain a Certificate of Need to build. After years of lawsuits, the state awarded that certificate to Piedmont Medical Center for the hospital that it opened in Fort Mill four years ago.
The latest amendment for the Atrium site lists possible uses for the property near the interstate at 250,000 to 600,000 square feet of commercial development and up to 300 apartments.
The hospital and medical office building would be included in that commercial space.
Sketch plans submitted to the town don’t show a hospital layout or design. Documents show the full development occurring in four phases. The first starts in September and runs through December 2028. The fourth phase wouldn’t finish, according to the updated schedule provided by Atrium, until the end of 2035.
The schedule doesn’t list which parts of the development would be built in each of the four phases. Fort Mill Town Council is expected to hold a public hearing on the plan in July.
Atrium’s plans come as a new Medical University of South Carolina hospital is under construction in Indian Land. Piedmont has plans for multiple freestanding emergency departments in York and Lancaster counties too, The Herald reported.
This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 5:08 AM with the headline "Atrium Health annexation request offers clues on new Fort Mill hospital plan."