Here’s what we know about Novant’s planned UNC med school branch campus in Charlotte

Hannah Smoot
·3 min read

Novant Health has announced plans to bring a medical school branch campus to Charlotte, escalating its ongoing health care battle with rival Atrium Health.

The city has long been without a four-year medical school. In fact, Charlotte is the largest city in the country without a four-year medical school, a 2015 report from Pittsburgh-based health care consulting firm Tripp Umbach found.

But now, the competition between the hospital systems could bring two medical campuses to Charlotte.

The UNC School of Medicine had trained students through a branch campus in Charlotte, under a partnership with Atrium Health, established in 2010, the Observer has previously reported.

But now, the medical school will operate a branch campus at a single location in Charlotte, opening a clinic at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center, UNC Health spokesman Phil Bridges told the Observer in a statement.

“Our school of medicine has trained students in Charlotte for nearly 50 years,” Bridges said. “Our expanded partnership with Novant Health will allow this to continue.”

Atrium hosted around 60 students — typically third and fourth year students — at the Charlotte branch campus, Atrium spokesman Dan Fogleman told the Observer. Many of the third year students will return to finish out the program with Atrium, finishing in May 2022, Foglman said.

Novant announced the agreement with UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine last week, expanding existing partnerships between the systems.

Novant Health could bring a UNC School of Medicine branch campus to Novant Health Presbyterian Mecial Center under a new partnership agreement.
Novant Health could bring a UNC School of Medicine branch campus to Novant Health Presbyterian Mecial Center under a new partnership agreement.

Novant deals

The announcement comes soon after Novant won approval in a $5 billion deal to purchase a Wilmington hospital. That deal relies in part on relationships with UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine.

The deal also expands on the existing relationship among the groups, bringing additional collaboration to Mecklenburg, Forsyth and surrounding counties, according to a Novant Health statement.

The partnership will also let Novant patients benefit from UNC School of Medicine clinical trials and studies, Novant stated. Novant did not make any officials available to the Observer to discuss the deal.

Novant also has not said how big the branch campus could be or when more details could be released.

UNC Health, Atrium plans

This is not the first time UNC Health has tried to partner with a major health care player in Charlotte.

In 2017 and 2018, UNC Health Care and Atrium attempted to merge, potentially bringing a medical school to Charlotte for the first time, but that deal fell through in March 2018.

Instead, Atrium announced last month it had officially combined with Wake Forest Baptist Health, paving the way for a Charlotte medical school. The Atrium/Wake Forest medical school will be a second campus for the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

The Atrium medical school could launch with 3,200 students across 100 programs, Atrium CEO Gene Woods said in August. The hospital system has not announced an exact location or timeline for opening the school.

Health care experts have long called for a full four-year medical school in Charlotte. The 2015 study from Tripp Umbach pointed to establishing a med school in Charlotte as a means to bring physicians to the area amid large numbers of retiring doctors.

And the firm has since estimated that by 2040, the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Charlotte could generate more than $2.5 billion in economic impact for the area.