Novant Health has filed for state permission to build a standalone, 24-hour emergency department at the intersection of U.S. 17 and N.C. 210 in Hampstead, aiming to bring faster emergency access to one of North Carolina's fastest-growing corners of Pender County. The proposal lands as county planners and elected officials have been pushing for expanded hospital and emergency services to keep pace with a population boom along the coast.
The application, first reported by Port City Daily, is part of a broader push by Novant Health in Pender County, where the health system took over the county-owned Pender Memorial Hospital in Burgaw in 2023. That facility, a 25-bed hospital that had served the county since 1951, remains the primary hospital serving Pender County residents even as growth has concentrated in the county's eastern communities.
Eastern Pender County, anchored by Hampstead along the U.S. 17 corridor, has become a major driver of that growth, according to Port City Daily's reporting. The area sits geographically apart from Burgaw, and residents there have historically had to travel toward Wilmington for emergency care, a gap local planning board members and elected officials have cited in pushing for expanded hospital and emergency services closer to home.
A County Adding Nearly 10,000 Residents Since 2020
Pender County has gained nearly 10,000 residents since 2020, per Port City Daily, and is projected to reach 75,000 residents by 2030. The county's population currently stands at nearly 72,000. Independent federal data reinforces the scale of that growth: U.S. Census Bureau estimates analyzed by Carolina Demography found Pender County's population grew 2.8% between July 2024 and July 2025, tying it for the third-fastest growth rate of any county in North Carolina, alongside Johnston and Iredell counties — an increase of roughly 2,000 residents in a single year.
Novant Health spokesperson Laurie Whalin said the proposed emergency department would complement existing resources rather than replace them, according to Port City Daily's report. Ruth Glaser, another Novant Health representative quoted in that coverage, said the planned facility would serve as a convenient site for residents needing care closer to where they live.
Feeding a New $294 Million Hospital 14 Miles Away
The Hampstead proposal comes just weeks after Novant Health opened its $294 million, 250,000-square-foot Scotts Hill Medical Center in northern New Hanover County, near the Pender County line — the first standalone hospital built in New Hanover County in nearly 60 years, according to WHQR. Pender County is now served by that Scotts Hill campus in addition to Pender Memorial in Burgaw. The planned Hampstead emergency department sits roughly 14 miles from Scotts Hill, positioning it to function as a feeder site funneling patients toward the newly opened hospital.
Under North Carolina General Statutes § 131E-175, Novant's proposal must clear a 90-day review by the state Division of Health Service Regulation, a process that includes a mandatory 30-day public comment window, according to the N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation. North Carolina's Certificate of Need law requires any freestanding emergency department to maintain a direct affiliation with a licensed acute care hospital, staff around the clock with board-certified emergency physicians, and bill at hospital emergency rates, per NC Health News. Because such facilities lack on-site operating rooms, patients needing complex surgery or inpatient admission must still be transferred by ambulance to a full hospital campus.
A Bigger Fight Over Hospital Beds in the Region
The Hampstead filing is only one piece of a larger regulatory push. Novant has also applied to build a new heart and vascular tower with 225 patient beds and is separately seeking a Certificate of Need to add more beds to New Hanover Regional Medical Center, per the same Port City Daily report. Novant is not alone in that effort — Atrium Health and UNC Health have each applied to bring additional hospital beds to the Wilmington region as state healthcare planners identified a need for roughly 225 additional acute care beds in North Carolina's 2026 State Medical Facilities Plan.
That competition has turned into a multi-system regulatory battle, with the state weighing dueling applications worth hundreds of millions of dollars: Novant's $236.7 million plan for 225 beds, Atrium Health's $395.7 million proposal for 42 beds, and UNC Health's $852.6 million bid for 150 beds, according to reporting compiled by All Things Leland. Rival systems can file public comments or challenge the necessity of a project during the state's review window, meaning Novant's Hampstead application could still draw pushback before regulators rule.
Building Out Primary and Specialty Care in Pender County
Beyond emergency services, Novant Health has been expanding other care in Pender County under commitments tied to its 2023 takeover of Pender Memorial, when the health system pledged $50 million in community healthcare investments over a decade. Since then, Novant has opened a new infusion center on the Pender Medical Center campus, recruited two full-time hospitalists, and partnered with Black River Health Services to expand access locally.
Novant has also launched a rural track of its family medicine residency program aimed at easing a shortage of primary care physicians in the region, and the program recently welcomed its second class of physicians, according to Port City Daily. Novant Health, headquartered in Winston-Salem, operates 16 hospital medical centers and more than 850 total locations across North and South Carolina, including over 700 physician clinics and urgent care centers.
Novant assumed operational control of Pender Memorial as part of its 2021 acquisition of New Hanover Regional Medical Center, after New Hanover Regional had managed the Burgaw hospital under a lease with the county for 23 years, according to WilmingtonBiz. Whether the Hampstead emergency department ultimately wins state approval will now hinge on that 90-day Certificate of Need review, as regulators weigh Novant's growth plans against those of its rivals across the broader Wilmington market.
