New CaroMont Regional Medical Center taking shape in Belmont

The view of the Charlotte skyline from the fourth floor of CaroMont Regional Medical Center-Belmont is indeed amazing — the towering spires of the downtown office buildings reaching upward into a Carolina blue sky.

But Chris Peek, CEO of CaroMont and the man whose vision has driven the construction of a new hospital just up the slope from the Catawba River, says that view should be reversed.

"We're not going to be looking at Charlotte," he says, speaking of both the new hospital and of the future he foresees for Gaston County, "they're going to be looking at us."

Peek and Richard Blackburn, CaroMont's vice president of facilities and support services, gave a quick tour of the hospital site to a Gazette reporter and photographer on a clear, dry spring afternoon when more than 300 workers were on the site.

When completed sometime late in 2023, the medical center will contain 265,000 square feet spread out over five floors. Included in that space will be 66 hospital beds, including 54 inpatient beds and a 12-bed observation unit.

The new medical center will also contain 16 emergency department rooms, a labor and delivery unit, a surgical suite with two operating rooms, an OB/GYN suite and an endoscopy/bronchoscopy suite.

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Also included will be a full complement of imaging and diagnostic services as well as five waiting rooms and comfort amenities including a chapel and cafeteria.

The estimated cost for the new medical center, which can be expanded by two additional floors as the need arises, is put at roughly $195 million.

"It's important that this campus is the first thing people will see as they drive into Gaston County from the east," said Peek. "We want to present a statement of quality and care, and we also want to complement our four-year college (Belmont Abbey)."

"This health care facility can be transformational for Gaston County," Peek continued. "And it can be part of the new, positive image that we're providing to our neighbors and to the people who live here."

In addition to the new medical center, a 100,000 square feet medical office complex with four floors is also being constructed on the 28.1-acre medical campus. Its estimated cost is put at $40 million.

Finally, a 240,000 square feet parking deck with four floors is being constructed just to the west of the new medical center.

"We're building that parking deck, not to meet the needs of these facilities in the beginning," said Blackburn, "but to be able to meet those needs as these facilities grow and expand."

Plans for the new medical center were announced just before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The pandemic and its subsequent disruptions of both the supply chain and workforce have had a "limited impact" on the construction effort, Peek said.

"It could impact the day we see our first patient," he said. "But we're still hoping that will occur late in 2023."

A four-lane entranceway, called CaroMont Parkway, will lead onto the new campus, while the drive immediately in front of the medical center will be named Compassion Lane.

"We're aiming for a campus that is both beautiful and functional," said Blackburn, "just like the main campus in Gastonia."

Blackburn noted that the campus will have an essential energy plant which will house at least two and possibly three generators to provide emergency power.

He also explained that hospitals must have two separate feeds for power, for water, and for fiber technology.

CaroMont estimates that some 16,000 patients will visit the new facility the first year it is open, with that number expected to rise to 30,000 by its third year of operation.

CaroMont also expects the new facility to employ at least 150 people in a variety of health care and support positions.

Standing on the fourth floor, looking out over the sprawling campus marked by hundreds of workers and dozens of construction vehicles, Peek said, "Those two additional floors are going to be needed on this building."

"This community, this region, is going to grow," he added, "and we're going to be ready for that growth."

Bill Poteat, who conquered his fear of heights long enough to climb the open stairs to the fourth floor, may be reached at 828-448-0195 or bpoteat@gastongazette.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: New CaroMont Regional Medical Center taking shape in Belmont