UNC Health
not-for-profit
Trade nameUNC Health
Foundation1998 (age 28)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.[1]
LocationChapel Hill, North Carolina
Key peopleCristy Page (CEO)
Area servedNorth Carolina and Virginia
IndustryHealth care
ParentUniversity of North Carolina System
Homepageunchealth.org

UNC Health is a not-for-profit medical system owned by the State of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It provides services throughout the Research Triangle and North Carolina. UNC Health was created in 1998, when the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation that established the UNC Health Care System, bringing under one entity UNC Hospitals and the clinical programs of the UNC School of Medicine.[1] In 2024, the system reported over 87,000 discharges and over 250,000 emergency department visits.[2]

History

The first hospital in what would later become UNC Hospitals opened on September 2, 1952. Named N.C. Memorial Hospital, it was established to honor North Carolinians who died while serving in World War II. The hospital was built as part of the Good Health Plan, an initiative launched by the state in the late 1940s to improve the health of North Carolinians.[3]

Today, UNC Health consists of UNC Hospitals (Chapel Hill, NC), UNC Health Rex (Raleigh, NC), Chatham Hospital (Siler City, NC), Caldwell Memorial Hospital (Lenoir, NC), Johnston Health (Smithfield, NC), Pardee Hospital (Hendersonville, NC), Nash Health Care (Rocky Mount, NC), Wayne Memorial Hospital (Goldsboro, NC), UNC Lenoir Health Care (Kinston, NC), and UNC Health Rockingham (Eden, NC). In addition, UNC Health Care includes UNC Faculty Physicians (the practice group serving UNC Hospitals) and the UNC Physicians Network (a wholly owned subsidiary of UNC Health that owns and operates community-based practices that provide primary and specialty care throughout the North Carolina Triangle area.).[1] UNC Hospitals include the NC Memorial Hospital, NC Children's Hospital, NC Women's Hospital, NC Cancer Hospital (clinical home of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center), and the NC Neurosciences Hospital. Construction of a new $20 million office/hospital complex in Hillsborough, NC began in April 2011. As of July 2015, many services are now offered at the Hillsborough campus, including an emergency department and general surgery.[4]

UNC Health and Charlotte-based Atrium Health announced August 31, 2017 that the systems had signed a letter of intent (LOI) to join their clinical enterprises and collaborate to enhance medical education and research. Under the LOI, the two organizations agreed to start a period of exclusive negotiations, with the goal of entering into final agreements by the end of the year. Their goal is to form a new organization through a joint operating company structure.[5] Executives of both systems said a larger network would improve the ability to negotiate with insurance companies and provide other cost reductions. The letter of intent signed August 30, 2017 said that if the proposed partnership was approved, UNC Health Care CEO Bill Roper would become executive chairman and Carolinas Healthcare CEO Gene Woods would be CEO of the new organization.[6] However, questions about who would control the combined system led Atrium to back out of talks in March 2018.[7]

On October 25, 2017, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and High Point Regional Health System announced that Wake Forest Baptist would take over High Point Regional, a part of UNC Health since 2013, by Summer 2018.[8] In November 2017, UNC Health purchased Morehead Memorial Hospital of Eden, North Carolina and rebranded it as UNC Health Rockingham in 2018.[9][10]

Hospitals

Notable UNC hospitals include:

UNC Health Rockingham

UNC Health Rockingham is a not-for-profit hospital located in Eden, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1960, the hospital has 108 beds and serves residents in Rockingham County, Piedmont Triad, as well as in the Southern Virginia area. The hospital staffs over 117 physicians and offers inpatient, outpatient and preventive healthcare services. Formally known as Morehead Memorial Hospital, the hospital was acquired and purchased by UNC Health in 2017 and was soon rebranded as UNC Health Rockingham in 2018.[11][12] Tabitha Brown (1979), actress and social media personality,[13] was a notable birth.

See also

References

  1. ^ "About the University of North Carolina Health Care System". Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  2. ^ "UNC Health Annual Report". UNC Health. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  3. ^ "Hospital to Mark Anniversary of the End of World War II - Carolina Alumni". Retrieved 2025-10-03.
  4. ^ "UNC Health Care Opens Hillsborough Emergency Department â€" News Room - UNC Health Care". Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  5. ^ "Together in HealthCare: Carolinas HealthCare System and UNC Health Care". togetherinhealthcare.org. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  6. ^ Smith, Deidre (2017-09-01). "Carolinas HealthCare, UNC Health Care to merge". Salisbury Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  7. ^ Deon Roberts & John Murawski (March 3, 2018). "Questions about control kill merger deal between Atrium Health and UNC Health Care". The Charlotte Observer
  8. ^ "Wake Forest Baptist plans to take over High Point Regional in summer 2018". Winston-Salem Journal. 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  9. ^ Wireback, Taft (November 13, 2017). "UNC Health Care wins right to buy Morehead Hospital". Greensboro News & Record. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  10. ^ "Morehead Memorial Hospital Unveils New Name: UNC Rockingham Health Care". UNC School of Medicine. January 4, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  11. ^ Wireback, Taft (November 13, 2017). "UNC Health Care wins right to buy Morehead Hospital". Greensboro News & Record. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  12. ^ "Morehead Memorial Hospital Unveils New Name: UNC Rockingham Health Care". UNC School of Medicine. January 4, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  13. ^ Schumer, Lizz (March 14, 2025). "America's Mom' Tabitha Brown's New Kids Book Honors One Important Lesson from Her Late Mother (Exclusive)". People. Retrieved June 26, 2025.