Northern Regional Hospital in Mount Airy has a new owner. Novant Health announced Monday that the 133-bed hospital and its roughly 1,000 employees officially joined its system, with the facility taking on a new name: Novant Health Northern Regional Medical Center.
Novant marked the transition with a celebration in Mount Airy, according to WXII. The station reported that Northern Regional Medical Center is now part of Novant's system, and that officials framed the deal as a way to meet the needs of a growing region. Alisha Hutchens, senior vice president and president of Novant Health's Triad Region, called it a milestone for the area. “This is a significant step toward strengthening the future of healthcare in northwest North Carolina,” Hutchens said, per the station's report.
Patients should not notice much disruption in the exam room, at least for now. Novant said people will continue getting care from the same physicians and clinics under Northern Regional, the same report noted. The hospital offers advanced imaging, laboratory, cardiology, maternity, orthopedic, surgical, skilled nursing and emergency services, and Novant has said it plans to expand what already exists and add more specialty care to the facility.
A Second Rural Hospital in Five Months
The Northern Regional deal is Novant's second rural hospital acquisition in northwest North Carolina within five months, according to Becker's Hospital Review. Five months earlier, the same outlet reported, Novant completed its acquisition of Community Hospital of Stokes, a 53-bed critical access hospital in Danbury. Becker's reported that the Surry County Board of Commissioners approved Novant's acquisition proposal Monday night, October 20, 2025, about eight months after the system had originally submitted it.
The path to Monday's closing wasn't a quiet one. WXII previously reported that multiple health systems, including Novant, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Duke Health and UNC Health, had expressed interest in purchasing the hospital, with the Surry County Board of Commissioners hearing from systems that said they sought a more sustainable investment in providing quality care in the county.
What the County's Agreement Actually Requires
The financial details of the deal have been described differently across outlets. The asset purchase agreement published by Surry County requires Novant to make a $130 million investment over the 10 years following closing and separately states that the buyer intends to invest an additional $100 million over that same decade. The Mount Airy News, however, reported the investment as $135 million in capital and operating expenses over 10 years and elsewhere described the overall agreement as a $137 million deal, while the Triad Business Journal characterized the terms as $130 million upfront plus another $100 million earmarked for workforce enhancement. The county's published agreement does not frame the figures that way, and it's not clear from the available record how the differing dollar totals were calculated relative to its stated terms.
Beyond the dollar figures, the county's agreement spells out commitments meant to protect the hospital's local footprint. It requires Novant to maintain a local leadership team for at least five years after closing and includes a commitment to maintain current core services for at least a decade. Novant has pledged to retain more than 1,000 positions.
A Hospital With Deep Local Roots
For Mount Airy, the change in ownership comes after Northern Regional Hospital has served as the community's hospital for years. WXII reported that the hospital and its team members were welcomed into Novant Health as part of Monday's transition. With the acquisition finalized, Northern Regional Hospital is now part of Novant Health.
