On Tuesday, May 7, The Dunn area Chamber of Commerce and the Erwin Area Chamber of commerce combined forces to host an informative lunch for the community while also providing a platform for leaders at Harnett Health to share the details of major health care projects coming to the area.

President and CEO of Harnett Health Cory Hess was able to provide background of the Harnett Health System, including their start in 1937, their merger with Cape Fear Valley Health System in 2021, and their current positioning in the present. He was also able to provide information on three major projects: the Harnett Health Cancer Center, a new Behavioral Health Service facility and a new Medical Service facility coming to Angier. 

Hess began by breaking down the need for healthcare providers in Harnett County, citing a recent needs assessment conducted by Harnett County that showed Harnett was in a deficit of more than 100 doctors in the area. 

“That's a staggering amount to recruit 100 doctors to this community. It's going to take a long time, but we've been very successful over the past three to five years and getting new providers in this community. We've got a great relationship with Campbell, we've got residents, we've got students that are sticking around here. We're extremely excited about the prospects,” said Hess. “Just as an example, in our family medicine program, we're graduating four family medicine doctors next year and they're all going to stay with us, they’re all going to practice in this community. We're capturing these providers and we're keeping them here. They're going to live locally.” 

The comprehensive Cancer Center and Medical Arts Building, announced in summer of 2023, has continued making progress. The project officially began following a groundbreaking ceremony held in late August of 2023 and construction has started on the 70,000 square- feet three story facility estimated to cost $40 million. The completed building will serve as a full-service Cancer Center as well as a medical office space. 

“As it sits today, we have an oncology program. But we don't have the opportunity to do radiation oncology. That is going to be a huge benefit to this community. Right now, people have to travel out and statistically right around 30 percent of cancer patients need radiation. And the challenge is, usually when you need radiation, it's a daily trip. So, a lot of these folks are traveling to Chapel Hill or to Durham or Fayetteville every single day, which is a real challenge for a lot of families around here. So, we're going to be able to do that in Harnett County by the end of this summer,” said Hess. 

Along with the new facility, the expansion will also allow for the addition of more providers. 

“We're bringing on another provider as well. Right now, we’ve got one medical oncologist and we’ll be bringing on one to two additional providers in the clinic. We deliver a great service right now; we are completely full almost every single day. This is going to give us an opportunity to treat two to three times more patients than we're currently treating. The great thing about this is it's also going to be a one-stop shop. We're going to have everything that you need as an oncology patient in this Cancer Center. Everything is going to be done there and it's going to be a beautiful space,” shared Hess. 

Hess shared that currently, the Cancer Care Center project is expected to be completed in 2024 and is currently under budget. 

A new Behavioral Health Services facility will soon be coming to the Harnett Health Lillington campus. This $10 million project will bring 14 beds to the area to help address and treat behavioral health issues, particularly for young patients. 

“We're consistently holding 10 to 15 behavioral health patients who are awaiting transport to be treated correctly at an inpatient facility. Many of those in our community, unfortunately, are kids,” said Hess. 

Harnett Health will also be bringing their first full time adult Psychologist to the facility with additional plans to add a child psychologist and an adolescent psychologist on staff by 2025. 

Hess shared that the health system is working with a contractor with a plan to complete the new Behavioral Health Facility by summer of 2025.  

 Along with these projects the overall goal is to continue to expand healthcare services and add beds to the main campus. Hess took a moment to thank the Harnett County government for their generous donation of a large portion of and around their Lillington campus for future growth which currently sits on 50 acres. 

“Now with the opportunity that we have to grow the available space that we have in Lillington, we're extremely excited. We can build a proper campus for 350- 450,000 people here over the next 10 to 20 years. So thank you for all the cooperation from the community,” said Hess. 

The Harnett Health Foundation has launched a primary fundraising campaign to fund the new cancer center and medical arts building on the Central Harnett Campus. Along with contributions for residents and generous donations from supporters located outside of the community, now there are more ways to give. 

The foundation has launched a new brick campaign to help raise money. All proceeds will go towards the construction of the cancer center and the bricks will be placed in the front entrance of the cancer center as a permanent show of support. Brick sizes come in standard, medium and large and can be engraved to honor donors.

“This cancer center is one of those projects where we felt that as a foundation we can have an impact on its success. We're trying to raise $5 million for the Cancer Center and as a foundation, we've never really raised that kind of money before. And so, it's been a challenge. But we're excited about we're, we're not quite there, almost halfway through that effort,” shared Scott Childers, executive director of the Harnett Health Foundation. 

A “Taking a Swing at Cancer” golf tournament will be taking place Thursday, September 26, 2024, at Keith Hills Golf Club and sponsorships are now available. 

Find more information on the Harnett health Foundation’s brick campaign here.

For more information on the “Taking a Swing at Cancer” golf tournament, contact Scott Childers at SChilders@capefearvalley.com