A French surgical institute will anchor Atrium Health’s new innovation district, the hospital system announced Monday.
IRCAD, or Institut de Recherche contre les Cancers de l'Appareil Digestif (Institute for Research into Cancer of the Digestive System), is a French-based research and training institute for surgeons with seven centers worldwide. It also researches and develops tools aimed at making surgeries safer.
Atrium said in a news release that IRCAD will be an anchor tenant in the first research building in the soon-to-be-constructed innovation district near midtown Charlotte, next to the new medical school campus. This will be IRCAD’s first location in North America.
“We envision IRCAD being a ‘super magnet,’ attracting businesses, physicians and surgeons to train and collaborate in the latest surgical techniques, including: robotics, medical virtual and augmented reality, surgical artificial intelligence and simulation training,” Atrium CEO Gene Woods said in the release.
Atrium said it is working with leaders from IRCAD to secure funding from individual donors, corporations and government leaders to help build the training center. The hospital system did not say how much money it was hoping to raise.
IRCAD is expected to open as early as 2025, Atrium said. The innovation district, which leaders have named “The Pearl,” is expected to break ground in mid- to late-2022 at the intersection of Baxter and McDowell streets. The innovation district will include Charlotte’s new medical school, Wake Forest University School of Medicine–Charlotte.
Woods told Charlotte’s city council at a meeting in November 2021 that the economic boost of the innovation district could be upwards of $500 million.
“We’re looking at creating 5,500 jobs and a half a billion dollars in annual economic contributions and earnings,” he said. “And then at full maturity including the surrounding communities over 11,000 jobs and $800 million of earnings.”
