Proposed spine center could face resistance

UNC Hospitals has plans to build an off-campus spinal care center, but its leaders must first get past stringent scrutiny from state regulators.

Hospital officials are dissatisfied with the spine center currently located within N.C. Memorial Hospital on Manning Drive, calling it cramped.

The center treats back pain, conducting surgery and providing rehabilitation.

But UNC needs a new, larger spine center, hospital officials said, because they anticipate an increase in patients as the region's elderly population grows larger and therefore requires a bigger facility.

Current plans for the new center call for a 30,000-square-foot facility near the Friday Center, where the defunct Aurora restaurant is now located, said Karen McCall, hospital spokeswoman.

"We've had the Aurora property for a number of years," McCall said. "It was a matter of finding the best use for it."

Plans are being drawn up by Chapel Hill-located architecture firm BJAC.

The firm specializes in health care, research and museum buildings. One of its most well-known recent projects is the "Explore the Wild" exhibit at N.C. Museum of Life and Science in Durham.

But state law sets several barriers in UNC's path.

"The application is fairly lengthy," said Mike McKillip, project analyst in the certificate of need division of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

He said the process takes about five months, but said he could not comment on the viability of the spine center proposal.

"There's no way until we see the application," McKillip said.

The requirements to receive a certificate of need include proof that the new facility will not replicate an existing service, that the money is in place to build it and that no lower-cost alternatives exist.

Similar outpatient centers proposed in Cary, Raleigh and Garner have already been denied certificates this year.

Orange County was found to be on track to have more hospital beds than it needs over the next 5 years, according to the most recent state medical facilities report.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.