Atrium Health Union West has broken ground on a $116 million patient tower, adding more than 67,000 square feet to a Stallings hospital that opened just four years ago and has already been overwhelmed by demand. The project will bring 88 new patient rooms and 11 new emergency department bays to the campus, along with a new procedure room and an endoscopy room.
The expansion, first reported by The Charlotte Weekly, will also expand access to imaging, ancillary and support services at the hospital, which serves residents of Union and southeastern Mecklenburg counties. Seth Goldwire, president of Atrium Health Union West and Atrium Health Anson, said the growth reflects the region's trajectory. “Union County and surrounding areas continue to grow at an extraordinary pace,” Goldwire said, according to the outlet's report. He added that the expansion “will help care for more patients and expand critical services.”
A Hospital That Outgrew Itself in Four Years
When Atrium Health Union West opened in February 2022, it was a $150 million, 150,000-square-foot facility with just 40 licensed acute care beds and 10 emergency department bays — Atrium's first newly built hospital campus in the Charlotte region in more than 30 years, according to WSOC-TV. Since then, the hospital has served more than 200,000 patients, and per the same Charlotte Weekly report, patient visits climbed 127% — a surge that quickly outpaced the original building's footprint. Missy Baker, chief nursing officer at Atrium Health Union West, Atrium Health Union and Atrium Health Anson, said the stakes for local families are high. “Access to care close to home can make a meaningful difference for patients and families,” Baker said.
The Union West campus already includes an adjacent 70,000-square-foot specialty care building offering outpatient services such as the Levine Cancer Institute, cardiology, pulmonology, gastroenterology and women's care, per WSOC-TV's coverage of the original opening. The hospital's emergency department earned the Emergency Nurses Association's Lantern Award in 2025, a three-year national recognition for leadership, clinical practice and emergency care quality, according to a statement from Atrium Health.
State Regulators Cleared 136 Beds — And a Rival Moved In
The expansion isn't happening in a vacuum. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services identified a regional need for 136 additional acute care hospital beds in Union County in its 2025 State Medical Facilities Plan, citing rapid population growth. Union County's population reached an estimated 267,674 residents in 2025, an increase of more than 12% since the 2020 Census count of 238,267, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
That state determination touched off a Certificate of Need battle between the region's two dominant health systems. In late 2025, Atrium Health sought $264 million in total capital projects across the county — including $165 million to expand Union West by 90 beds and $99 million to add 46 beds at Atrium Health Union in Monroe. But Atrium didn't get the whole pie: in March 2026, state regulators issued conditional approval for Novant Health to build a competing $346 million, 32-bed hospital in Wesley Chapel, as Hoodline previously reported. The Union West tower ultimately moving forward — with 88 new inpatient rooms and 11 new ER bays — represents Atrium's answer to that competitive squeeze in the fast-growing suburbs south of Charlotte.
Backed by a Six-State Health Giant
Atrium Health merged with Advocate Aurora Health in December 2022 to form Advocate Health, creating the nation's third-largest non-profit healthcare system with nearly six million unique patients across six states, according to background compiled on Wikipedia. That scale is showing up in Charlotte's skyline: general contractor DPR Construction, which is partnering with Atrium on the Union West tower, is also building the health system's $900-million-plus, 12-story care tower at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, according to Business North Carolina.
Union West already offers maternity, emergency, surgical, imaging, laboratory and pharmacy services. The expanded hospital is expected to open in fall 2028, per project expectations reported by The Charlotte Weekly, giving Union County residents additional inpatient, emergency and procedural capacity as the county's suburbs continue filling in along U.S. Highway 74.
