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Duke Health, CaroMont join forces in bid for two Charlotte hospitals
Duke Health, CaroMont join forces in bid for two Charlotte hospitals
by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger, North Carolina Health News
October 15, 2026
Key Takeaways:
- Duke Health and CaroMont Health are seeking state approval to build two hospitals in Mecklenburg County.
- The proposed hospitals would expand Duke’s presence in the Charlotte market, where Atrium Health and Novant Health have long been the dominant providers.
- The partnership is the latest in a wave of hospital expansion and deal-making across North Carolina.
By Michelle Crouch
As North Carolina hospitals jockey for position in an increasingly competitive health care market, Duke Health is hoping to make another big move into Charlotte.
The Durham-based health system announced Wednesday that it’s teaming up with Gastonia-based CaroMont Health to seek state approval to build two new hospitals in Mecklenburg County, a market long dominated by Atrium Health and Novant Health.
Duke and CaroMont want to build the two hospitals in the outskirts of Mecklenburg County: a 120-bed facility in University City in north Charlotte and an 80-bed hospital in the River District, a new mixed-use community in western Mecklenburg County near the airport.
CaroMont President and CEO Chris Peek said the goal ...
Atrium affordability program could bankrupt state employees’ health plan
NC treasurer: Atrium affordability program could bankrupt state employees’ health plan
by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger, North Carolina Health News
October 7, 2026
Key Takeaways:
- Atrium announced a program that will cut copays and deductibles for State Health Plan members who use its doctors.
- But Treasurer Brad Briner says the health system will still charge the State Health Plan higher rates, driving up costs. His office is investigating legal options.
- Critics say the program undermines cost-control efforts, while some local officials praised it, citing employee concerns about keeping their doctors.
By Michelle Crouch
Atrium Health announced a program Tuesday that aims to lower out-of-pocket costs for members of the health insurance plan for state employees who want to keep their Atrium doctors. But the announcement drew a blistering response from state officials who called it “trickery” that would ultimately cost plan members and taxpayers more.
“If this Atrium program remains in place, it will bankrupt the State Health Plan,” said North Carolina Treasurer Brad Briner, whose office administers the plan.
Briner told The Ledger/NC Health News he believes the Atrium program is illegal, and his office is investigating legal options. He urged state employees to disregard ...
More parental leave, faster hiring among changes coming to NC workforce
More parental leave, faster hiring among changes coming to NC workforce
by NC Local, North Carolina Health News
October 1, 2026
By Kelly Hinchcliffe
The Public Workforce Modernization Act, which goes into effect Oct. 1, is the largest overhaul of North Carolina’s state human resources system in more than 60 years, according to the North Carolina Office of State Human Resources (OSHR).
“Everybody’s thrilled over the parental leave. I mean, that’s just huge,” said Suzanne Beasley, government relations director for the State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC), which helped state leaders and lawmakers craft the law.
The bill, which passed the General Assembly with unanimous, bipartisan support and was signed by Gov. Josh Stein, increases paid parental leave for state employees to 12 weeks for both mothers and fathers. Previously, mothers received eight weeks and fathers received four weeks.
North Carolina is the first state in the South to offer 12 weeks of fully paid leave to both mothers and fathers in the public sector, according to SEANC. The change also applies to public schools, community colleges and the University of North Carolina System.
While parental leave is only one of the changes ...
PBM reforms promise relief for NC’s independent pharmacies
PBM reforms promise relief for NC’s independent pharmacies
by Jaymie Baxley, North Carolina Health News
February 23, 2026
By Jaymie Baxley
Cole’s Pharmacy, a family-owned drug store in Person County, closed in early February after nearly 70 years, leaving many residents in and around Roxboro with a longer drive for medications and fewer local health care options.
Robbie Carver, who managed the pharmacy with his sister, said the increasingly unpredictable reimbursements and fees from pharmacy benefits managers made it impossible to stay in business.
Pharmacy benefits managers, commonly referred to as PBMs, are huge pharmaceutical distribution companies that act as gatekeepers in the prescription drug supply chain, often squeezing retail pharmacists.
“It’s like having a skeleton in your closet,” Carver told The Roxboro Courier-Times. “You don’t know who they are, where they are or how they operate. They cut and cut and cut what we received as paybacks from medicine that we sold.”
The closure of Cole’s Pharmacy reflects a broader pattern.
A 2024 data brief from the Rural Policy Research Institute at the University of Iowa showed that the number of rural retail pharmacies across the U.S. declined by 5.9 percent from 2018 to 2023. At least three ...
NC pitches $1 billion plan to overhaul rural health systems
North Carolina Health News
December 1, 2025
By Jaymie Baxley
North Carolina is seeking $1 billion from the federal government for a wide-ranging plan that could reshape rural health care across the state.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services hopes to secure the funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program, an initiative created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Donald Trump in July. The program allows states to compete for a share of a $50 billion pool aimed at improving health outcomes in rural communities.
Devdutta Sangvai, secretary of NC DHHS, submitted the state’s 61-page proposal to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Nov. 3, ahead of a Nov. 6 deadline. Developed with input from more than 400 stakeholders, the state’s plan lays out a broad framework for overhauling rural health delivery through six regional hubs that would coordinate services across North Carolina’s 85 rural counties.
It also calls for major investments in the state’s rural health workforce and introduces payment models designed to stabilize financially distressed hospitals and clinics. Other elements focus on nonmedical factors like food access and transportation — priorities that were central to the state’s promising but ...
NC employers look to smaller PBMs without “shenanigans”
by Grace Vitaglione, North Carolina Health News
August 20, 2025
By Grace Vitaglione
North Carolina Health NewsSome employers and health systems in North Carolina are looking to change how they manage prescription drug benefits for their employees.
More employers are considering alternative pharmacy benefit managers — or PBMs — to run the drug benefits in their employees’ health insurance plan. For the past few years, the market has been dominated by three big pharmacy benefit managers: CVS Caremark, Optum Rx and Express Scripts, which together processed nearly 80 percent of all prescription claims in the U.S. in 2024.
But with those mammoth PBMs facing increased scrutiny from lawmakers, some clients are switching to smaller pharmacy benefits startups that bill themselves as more transparent than the “big three.”
One example is billionaire Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company, which launched in 2022 and advertises more transparent and affordable drug pricing. Another is Rightway, which signed on to manage Tyson Foods’ prescription drug benefit in early 2024.
In North Carolina, UNC Health created its own pharmacy benefit manager for its employees in 2019.
Durham-based Senior PharmAssist, which helps low-income older adults access medications, contracts with a company called LucyRx as their PBM. Executive Director Gina Upchurch said ...
HCA reaches settlement agreement in North Carolina antitrust lawsuit
From Becker’s Hospital Review:
August 13, 2025
Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health and its owner, Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, have settled a lawsuit filed by several North Carolina counties and municipalities alleging anticompetitive practices. As part of the agreement, Mission Health will donate $1 million to a new charity fund that will be created to provide healthcare cost assistance to families and individuals earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level, according to a joint Aug. 13 news release shared with Becker’s.
Click here to read more at Becker’s Hospital Review.
...Atrium Health executives get hefty pay raises amid record revenues
by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger, North Carolina Health News
May 14, 2025
By Michelle Crouch
The total compensation of Atrium Health’s top executives soared by an average of 41 percent last year, according to newly released data from the hospital system, but information about the salary of Eugene Woods, CEO of Atrium parent Advocate Health, was not included in the release.
The executive compensation report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, which does business as Atrium Health, shows double-digit raises across much of Atrium’s senior leadership, with several executives seeing their compensation jump by more than 50 percent.
The four highest paid executives were:
- Ken Haynes, president of Advocate Health’s southeast region, received $5.07 million in 2024, up 56.6 percent from $3.24 million in 2023.
- Scott Rissmiller, executive vice president and chief physician executive, had compensation of $4.03 million, up 54.3 percent.
- Brett Denton, the system’s top legal officer, saw a 68.5 percent pay increase to $3.87 million.
- Carol Lovin, chief integration officer and chief of staff, earned $3.6 million, up 57.4 percent.
Each executive’s total compensation includes their base salary, bonuses, plan-based incentives and other forms of compensation.
In 2024, Atrium Health reported $12.6 billion in net operating revenue and $1.31 billion in net income, which some ...
Can NC Lawmakers fix our health care headaches?
by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger, North Carolina Health News
May 5, 2025
By Michelle Crouch
If you’ve ever been hit with a slew of confusing bills after a hospital stay, had a long wait for an insurance approval or struggled to pay an unexpectedly high medical bill, you know how frustrating health care in North Carolina can be.
In fact, by at least one measure, it’s the worst in the nation: A 2024 Forbes Advisor analysis found that the state had the highest average premium for employer-sponsored insurance that includes a worker and a “plus-one.”
This session, under growing pressure from patients and health care providers, lawmakers in Raleigh are considering a series of bills designed to trim health care costs and improve access.
Advocates say they are cautiously optimistic.
“There seems to be more of an appetite than ever before to try and address some of the pain points,” said Rebecca Cerese, health policy advocate for the North Carolina Justice Center. “It is heartening that they are looking at different mechanisms and trying to figure out some solutions.”
The Ledger/NC Health News has highlighted many of the issues that the General Assembly proposals address. Here’s a look ...
Duke finalizes acquisition of Lake Norman Regional Medical Center
April 1, 2025
Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System has completed its $284 million acquisition of Lake Norman Regional Medical Center and related businesses in Mooresville, N.C., from subsidiaries of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems. See the full article on Becker’s Hospital Review
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