Much of the initial work has and will continue to happen among our work groups of specialists in various aspects of the project. The majority of the project work to date has been focused on confirming the partnership between UNC Health and Duke Health.

With the partnership confirmed, our three priorities for NC Children’s are: joint campus master planning, finalizing a location for NC Children’s, and confirming the finances to build the new campus.

For now, nothing will change for our patients, clinicians, researchers, students and teammates across UNC Children’s and Duke Children’s. However, as joint planning between UNC Health and Duke Health ramps up, we will do our best to keep everyone informed.

We will share regular updates as planning progresses through our social media channels. Please email us at info@ncchildrens.org with any questions, and follow us at:

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Following the partnership announcement, our focus is on establishing the teams that will lead the planning of NC Children’s. The NC Children’s project team is working closely with senior executives at UNC Health, Duke Health, the UNC School of Medicine and the Duke School of Medicine to focus on the joint planning process and location of NC Children’s.

The NC Children’s team is also working closely with clinical and operational leaders at UNC Children’s and Duke Children’s to plan the infrastructure and programs of the new system. We are several years away from determining who will lead NC Children’s at its opening. 

NC Children’s will establish its own governance. It will have its own board of directors with directors appointed by both UNC Health and Duke Health, along with interim leaders charged with guiding the planning.

Our current interim leadership structure for the project includes the core NC Children’s staff, members of leadership from Duke Health and UNC Health, and representation from clinical, academic and operational leaders.

For NC Children’s to be among the best children’s hospitals in the nation, it must meet the needs of patients and their families, providers, students, and researchers. As the planning for the clinical programs, infrastructure, technology, and operational processes begins, the input from all these stakeholders is crucial.

The planning groups will be guided by demonstrated best practices from the most respected and experienced independent children's hospitals in the nation, and peer-reviewed evidence as indicated.

It is too early to address specific employment or benefits; we are currently focused on foundational work, such as identifying a location, physical plant requirements, and financial support. Planning for operations/employment will be addressed at a later time.

The NC Children’s leadership team is focused on creating a destination for clinicians, researchers and teammates that will include competitive benefits, salaries, and a world-class culture.   

One of our goals will be to make the transition to NC Children’s as simple as possible for our existing faculty, clinicians and teammates. We don’t know all the details yet, but will share them as they are confirmed throughout the joint planning process.

NC Children’s will be a separate entity, so all new clinicians and teammates after a certain point will be new hires. 

NC Children’s will be served by faculty from Duke University School of Medicine and The University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

NC Children’s will develop a practice model for providers from both Duke and UNC, allowing them to retain their existing academic appointments. NC Children’s will have an open medical staff, meaning that qualified providers may apply for privileges, even if they are not affiliated with either school.

As we confirm more details about faculty appointments, we will share that information widely with our faculty members and teammates, as well as the pediatric teaching hospital community.

NC Children’s will be a community and statewide asset, adding much needed capacity and sub-specialty care that our state lacks today. NC Children’s will seek to partner with and support pediatric hospitals across the state to ensure that all our state’s children get the specialty care that they need, as close to home as possible.

Our plan is to care for the many children who must leave the state to access some or all aspects of their care.

NC Children’s will employ world class specialty and subspecialty physicians. The plan is to support hospitals across the state, building capacity to serve our rapidly growing pediatric population. NC Children’s can accept referrals from around the state, but our priority is to understand how we can best serve the providers who care for children in their own communities. 

NC Children’s will also play an important role in tackling the intensifying state-wide mental health crisis among children by working with communities and providers across the state. We will offer a multidisciplinary behavioral health center with approximately 70 inpatient beds and ambulatory services to serve the children of North Carolina in the most appropriate way, as close to home as possible.

NC Children’s will accelerate research and discovery for all children in our state and extend access to clinical trials and translational research conducted by our two schools of medicine. The prospects for research are very exciting.

NC Children’s will employ world class specialty and subspecialty physicians. The plan is to support hospitals across the state, building capacity to serve our rapidly growing pediatric population. NC Children’s can accept referrals from around the state, but our priority is to understand how we can best serve the providers who care for children in their own communities.  

At all times, decisions about patient care at NCC will be made by the physician team, in a way that is clinically appropriate for the child and family.

We anticipate that many of the neonates currently cared for at Duke Health and UNC health will be cared for in the hospitals where they were born, to remain close to their mothers. However, the sickest babies will be cared for at NC Children’s based on clinical criteria to be determined as the planning process continues. 

Both hospital campuses are currently experiencing space constraints, and we do not anticipate that changing. We anticipate that both UNC Health and Duke Health will have plans to backfill the space that will be vacated when the pediatric service line moves to the new NC Children’s campus.

The building of NC Children’s will be separate from the operation of UNC Children’s and Duke Children’s.  Both organizations will continue to make the appropriate investments in the operation of our pediatric service lines to ensure they continue to provide the best care for our children and their families while we also plan and build the new NC Children’s campus.

We are incredibly appreciative of the $320 million in funding provided by North Carolina legislative leaders to get this projected started. Philanthropy is another important part of fulfilling our mission. We will rely on the generosity of donors to help build this world class children’s health campus.