Ballantyne Magazine covers news, events, real estate, restaurants, shopping, health, schools and business in the upscale Ballantyne Area of Charlotte, NC.
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The renovated maternity ward allows mothers to give birth and recover in the same room.
increasing level of the hospital's sophistication, such as offering open-heart surgeries, as well as the arrival of new doctors. He says the expansion is good news for nearby residents.
give birth and recover, without having to switch rooms. In the neonatal unit, which cares for premature or sick infants, the hospital added 10 rooms where parents can be with their newborns in a private setting, as opposed to having all the newborns in one area.
"It's great to be able to do these things that we weren't able to do in the old unit," says nurse manager Tamara Dowless. Dr. Kevin Smith, chief of CMC-Pineville's medical staff, says all the changes translate to better care. He says he's especially excited about the
"It brings a name that people know and trust from Carolinas Medical Center and makes it local for them," he says. The expansion of CMC- Pineville comes as more medical options appear on the way for residents in the Ballantyne area. In September, Carolinas HealthCare System applied for permission from the state to build a stand-alone emergency department at an unspecified site on Providence Road, south of I-485. It would open in 2014. In addition, there should eventually be a new hospital in Fort Mill. In the fall,
South Carolina regulators awarded Carolinas HealthCare permission for a 64-bed Fort Mill hospital near Interstate 77, but competitors Presbyterian Healthcare and Tenet Healthcare are appealing the decision, so it's unclear when construction might start. And to the east, 117-bed Presbyterian Hospital Matthews is expanding, adding a fifth floor, 20 beds and more parking spaces in a $16.6 million project.
Hummer, CMC-Pineville's president, says he's looking forward to the opening of the new spaces. But he says it won't be the end of the hospital's growth — just a pause. "We'll be at a stopping point," he says. "But it won't last long."
56 BALLANTYNE MAGAZINE
SPRING 2012