Duke Regional Hospital staff, Duke Health leaders and government officials gathered March 25 to celebrate the official groundbreaking for Duke Regional’s $102.4 million emergency department expansion and behavioral health addition.

“While our campus is going to look a bit different in 2021 when we open exactly two years from now, our vision at Duke Regional Hospital remains the same: our aim is to be the best community hospital,” said Duke Regional Hospital President Katie Galbraith. “Now, we are breaking ground on the largest construction project and expansion since we opened our doors back in 1976.”

Construction for the emergency department expansion and behavioral health addition began in fall of 2018 and is expected to be complete in spring of 2021. The project will:

• increase private rooms in the emergency department from 36 to 49.
• double the Clinical Decision Unit (CDU) from six to 12 private rooms.
• bring together inpatient, outpatient and emergency behavioral health services as part of a 112,000-square-foot centralized behavioral health center, consolidating services from Duke University and Duke Regional hospitals.  
• provide a 42-bed inpatient behavioral health unit that will consist of all private rooms.
• create a behavioral health emergency department with 18 private rooms.
• increase outpatient behavioral health clinic rooms from 19 to 30.
• relocate an electroconvulsive therapy suite from the Duke South clinics to the Duke Regional campus. 
• incorporate an exercise room, secure outdoor courtyards, natural light, a dedicated family visitation room, more group therapy space and other accommodations that enhance the patient experience.

About 200 people attended the March 25 ceremony, enjoying refreshments and viewing project renderings. Guests listened to speakers including Galbraith, Alan Portnoy, chair of the Durham County Hospital Corporation Board of Trustees,  Moira Rynn, M.D., chair of the Duke Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Rep. G. K. Butterfield of North Carolina’s First District, and A. Eugene Washington, M.D., chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of Duke University Health System. 

“This project is a concrete example of working together to improve the lives of individuals and all of the communities we serve,” Washington said. “Our patients, their families and their loved ones are why we’re here. Because of them, we are gathered here today fulfilling our mission and fulfilling our commitment to them to provide the highest-quality, patient-centered care.”