Duke Health has broken ground on a new hospital in Cary that leaders say will increase access to emergency, cancer, and primary care.
The health system says the facility will serve a quickly growing part of Wake County. Duke Health has state approval for 40 hospital beds at the 85-acre campus, and is expected to apply for more in the coming years.
Duke Health Cary currently provides primary care and various specialty care clinics.
At a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, Duke Health CEO Dr. Craig Albanese said creating a second building with emergency care is meant to cut travel times for patients in southwestern Wake County.
"We've had a very large footprint in Durham for many years and by expanding into Wake, we're not leaving any communities, but we're entering more," Albanese said. "And when we're in a community, we're there for the community, with the community."
At Thursday's ceremony, Duke Health patient and Cary resident Joel Graybeal shared that in 2022, he was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer, which subsequent tests showed had spread. But he credited Duke with a years-long complex regimen of chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy that has prolonged his life.
"Duke has been unbelievable, just a godsend," Graybeal told the audience through tears.
Graybeal said future patients will benefit from the Cary expansion.
"To know it's just a few minutes down the road makes a huge difference," he said, adding that he often had to drive 45 minutes or more for his treatment at Duke's facilities in Durham.
"It offers convenient access to real, cutting edge medical care and in some cases, participation in clinical trials that offer them hope in areas of medicine where we just do not have all the answers today," said Dr. Mary Klotman, Dean of the Duke University School of Medicine.
North Carolina's Local Government Commission approved $540 million in bonds for the project in May. The new building is expected to open in 2027 with plans for a third currently in development.
