Cape Fear Valley Medical Center has flipped the switch on a new high-tech external light system. As part of the expansion of the Valley Pavilion section of the hospital, the new upper stories of the structure are now lit with a programmable multi-colored light display, as of July 1. In honor of the Fourth of July holiday, the lights are shining in a red, white and blue pattern this week.

“The activation of these lights marks the first significant completion milestone of the Valley Pavilion expansion,” said Vice President of Operations and Development Brian Pearce in a press release. “The exterior is now complete, and we will be taking down the last crane next week.”

The new lights come on each evening at 30 minutes before sunset and turn off at midnight, with the crown lights above the peak nearest to the intersection of Owen Drive and Village Drive remaining lit all night. The new lighting system includes 123 light fixtures, which can each be individually set to any color in the red, green and blue (RGB) color spectrum, offering millions of color combinations.

“We’re looking forward to being able to light up the building in recognition of different awareness months and holidays,” Pearce said in the release. “You’ll see it go pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or red for Heart Month, for example.”

The highest point of the building is now 161 feet, 3 inches tall, which makes it the tallest building in Fayetteville. The expansion has added two floors for patient care, bringing the Valley Pavilion up to eight floors, including a mechanical space between floors. This adds 100,000 square feet to the hospital, bringing its total square footage to over 1.7 million square feet.

When the internal portion of the expansion is complete early next year, it will add 92 beds to the hospital – 44 Adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and 48 Adult Step Down unit beds – bringing Cape Fear Valley Medical Center’s capacity to 762 licensed beds, including 85 Adult ICU beds and 106 Adult Step Down beds. Step down beds are for intermediate care, when a patient needs more than observation but does not need ICU-level of care.

The roof of the Valley Pavilion now includes two helipads, one of which is designed to accommodate a military Black Hawk helicopter. The hospital plans to switch over to using the new helipads in the fall. This will allow patients to be taken by elevator directly into the hospital emergency department.

Cape Fear Valley Medical Center began this 110 million construction project in September 2022.

CEO Michael Nagowski has estimated that the expansion, when completed, will create an additional 187 full-time equivalent positions at the medical center.