INDUSTRY TRENDS

TRENDS

TO WATCH

From expanding spaces to training more workers, the local health care industry continues to grow even as providers continue to navigate the COVID pandemic.

BY VICKY JANOWSKI

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SPACING OUT

NHRMC is working on medical facilities to increase capacity.

Site work is expected to start in late summer or fall on a 66-bed hospital in the Scotts Hill area, according to Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center representatives.

The $210 million acute care facility is being built to serve northern New Hanover County and southern Pender County residents. It will be at the site of NHRMC Emergency DepartmentNorth, a free-standing emergency department and surgical center at 151 Scotts Hill Medical Drive.

The health system also is moving ahead with plans for two proposed Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinics in Wilmington. The clinics are intended to address care for underserved communities and are being funded by $10 million donated by Jordan. The first site, at 1410 S. 15th St., is expected to open to patients next summer. A second to-be-determined site is expected to start seeing patients in 2024, hospital officials said.

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PROVIDER PIPELINE

Amidst a nationwide physician and nurse shortage, the area’s higher education institutions are focusing on training more providers in the health care industry.

In recent years, the University of North Carolina Wilmington has started degree programs in respiratory therapy for undergraduates and a doctoral degree in nursing practice.

And this fall, the university will launch a Ph.D. program in pharmaceutical chemistry.

“New innovations flowing from advanced faculty and student research will have the potential to spark creation of industry opportunities across the state, nation and even internationally,” said Jeremy Morgan, professor and incoming chair for the school’s chemistry and biochemistry department.

At Cape Fear Community College, new health-related programs include a medical lab technology training program starting this fall and a community paramedicine course launching this month in partnership with Novant Health.

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MEDICAID EXPANSION

Though not a uniquely local development, the issue of Medicaid expansion in North Carolina has resurfaced.

A Republican bill on health care access, including the longblocked backing for expanding the federal program in the state, passed the state Senate.

The expansion was a part of the Affordable Care Act enacted in 2010. Since then, 38 states and Washington, D.C., have adopted Medicaid expansion in which coverage extended to nearly all adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level. The federal government pays for 90% of expansion coverage, with states picking up the rest.

For years, North Carolina has been one of the holdout states for the expansion. Lawmakers have cited reasons such as impacts on taxpayers and skepticism about the level of federal coverage for costs.

The bill, “NC Health Works,” is estimated to cover an additional 600,000 people in North Carolina if adopted, and under it, the state’s 10% share would come from an assessment on hospitals. The measure could still face opposition in the state House.

COVID CHECK-IN

Two-and-a-half years into the coronavirus pandemic, area public health officials are continuing to address contagious variants, even as mitigation measures have waned.

As of early June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rated New Hanover County as a low COVID-19 community level.

“While the number of COVID-19 cases in New Hanover County has steadily increased in recent weeks, the CDC’s community level for our area remains low, mainly because the local healthcare system is not being significantly impacted,” according to a statement from the county.

From late March through early June, the percent positivity rate for PCR testing over 14 days in the county rose from 4.3% to 20.6%, and the average number of confirmed cases per day increased from 9.7 to 61.5.

“We are certainly seeing more COVID tests come back positive, but thankfully a large portion of those infections have not led to hospitalizations,” the county’s pandemic operations manager Jon Campbell said.

For the week of May 23, Novant Health NHRMC reported a daily average of 12 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized.

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PHARMA POSSIBILITIES

Several developments are happening in the area’s pharmaceutical-related industries.

Cygnus Technologies Inc., part of Maravai LifeSciences, is planning to move from Southport to a morethan-$10 million, 45,000-square-foot facility at Waterford Commercial Park in Leland. Cygnus manufactures, assembles and distributes kits that allow pharmaceutical and biotech companies to detect and identify host cell impurities in biotherapeutics.

Wilmington-based Catalyst Clinical Research, a provider of clinical research services, acquired U.K.-based Aptus Clinical. Alcami also recently announced that it had partnered with Civica Inc., a nonprofit pharmaceutical firm that seeks to make generic medicines accessible and affordable.

Meanwhile, Quality Chemical Laboratories is working on its 100,000-square-foot expansion at its facility at Northchase Industrial Park. The company, which conducts testing of raw- and in-process materials, finished products and active pharmaceutical ingredients, plans to move into manufacturing pharmaceuticals through the expansion with a sister company called Pyramid Pharmaceutical Co.