Big hospital systems have long been getting bigger in North Carolina, with Atrium and Novant growing through mergers, acquisitions and building new medical facilities. Now, a provision in the state Senate’s proposed budget could make further expansion even easier. For more, we go to Tony Mecia of the Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter, for our segment BizWorthy.
Chris Jones: Tony, explain what the state Senate's proposed budget has to say about hospital systems and expansion.
Tony Mecia: Chris, it's a good question. The answer it's a little bit complicated when you start talking about large bills working their way through the North Carolina General Assembly. But there's a provision in the Senate's budget that came out this week that would allow Atrium Health to expand more in North Carolina. Right now, Atrium Health is chartered as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, which is a government entity that allows Atrium to condemn land, have certain tax exemptions. But it's right now contained really within Mecklenburg County and just within 10 miles of the border of Mecklenburg County.
What this provision in the Senate budget would do would allow Atrium, and really any hospital authority, to have those same kind of powers outside of that zone. So what that means is that Atrium could then build new hospitals in other parts of North Carolina in a way that they really can't right now. So that would really increase the growth of Atrium, which is already one of the largest hospital systems in the country.
I think it's also worth pointing out that this is one of the provisions in this budget that affects health care and hospitals. One of the ones that's also received a lot of attention are what are called certificate of need laws. Under current law in North Carolina, medical facilities that want to add expensive pieces of equipment like MRI machines, for example, the state needs to approve those because they don't want too many places having those because the thinking is it drives up medical costs. The Senate's proposed budget would greatly reduce the amount of regulations for some of those big pieces of equipment.
Jones: What do the politics look like of all of this? Is this a party thing or is this an interest group thing?
Mecia: On these sorts of things, it's not really the Republicans lining up on one side and Democrats on the other. It's really more, you know, these hospital systems have a lot of lobbyists. They have a lot of interest groups sort of working on this. They're making their positions known to politicians of either political stripe. So it really cuts across party lines.
Jones: Turning to some real estate news, there's another high rise kicking off construction in South End this week. Queensbridge Collective is starting work on a 42-story apartment building, but the developer may be holding off on a planned office tower. What's going on there?
Mecia: So this is a proposal for a development that's been around for a couple of years. The big complex, like you said, two towers. This is on Morehead Street, on the site of what used to be Midnight Diner and what is currently the Uptown Cabaret. The plan was for an apartment tower and an office tower, although since the project was proposed a couple of years ago, the office market has really been kind of hurting. So they're not going to kick off construction on the office part of it, but they are going to start work pretty soon, they say, on the residential component of it.
Jones: That does mean that it would be the end of the Uptown Cabaret. The Uptown Cabaret does have some history here in Charlotte. It's one of those buildings that everyone can recognize. It's a building that does predate many things. Could you tell us just how long has it been there for folks that may not know?
Mecia: I mean, my experience is just from reading about it and researching, of course, Chris. But, you know, it's been there since the mid-1990s. It opened right before the Panther Stadium. I don't think anybody's saying it's, you know, historically significant, but it has been around for a long time. We tried reaching out to Uptown Cabaret several times in the last week and haven't heard back on any plans.
Jones: Now, finally, Tony, you reported about the recent demise and legacy of a beloved mini horse. Tell me about Brandy.
Mecia: Brandy, the marvelous miniature horse, made hundreds of visits a year really, to go visit children who were sick and folks in retirement homes who sort of needed their day brightened. Unfortunately, Brandy herself died this month at the age of 13 from an ailment called laminitis, which is a painful and often fatal condition of the hoof. And so tributes have really started pouring in for Brandy, who brought a lot of joy to a lot of people.
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