Wake Forest Baptist Submits Application for Additional Acute Care Beds

October 15, 2007

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center announced today that it has submitted a Certificate of Need (CON) application to add 26 beds to existing units.
The 2007 State Medical Facilities Plan reflects a need for 26 additional beds in Forsyth County. Wake Forest Baptist currently has 872 licensed beds, of which 789 are general acute care. “An aging population, an increase in chronic illnesses, and population growth will continue to drive up the demand for inpatient care in general,” said Mike Freeman, vice president of strategic planning, explaining why the additional beds are needed.
From 2003-2007 NCBH has experienced significant growth in inpatient admissions. It is anticipated that the addition of two surgeons who perform joint replacements will increase the volume of these surgeries.
“At present, the medical and surgical oncology units are effectively operating at full capacity and we must position ourselves to respond to these increasing demands by acquiring additional acute beds,” said Freeman.
The deadline to submit the CON application was today. It is anticipated that the additional beds, all semi-private rooms, would be available within 2 to 3 months of CON approval.
“The project is financially feasible as proposed based on the hospital’s ability to generate new admissions,” Freeman added.
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Media contact: Bonnie Davis, bdavis@wfubmc.edu; or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-4587.

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,154 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.

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