WakeMed and Atrium Health Announce Planned Strategic Combination to Expand Access to World Class Care

Proposed combination will bring $2 billion investment that will add new hospitals and facilities, create thousands of jobs, expand virtual care and establish the state’s largest nonprofit behavioral health network

RALEIGH, N.C. and CHARLOTTE, N.C. (MAY 6, 2026) – WakeMed and Atrium Health have announced a strategic combination to create a stronger, faster, and even more innovative gateway to health care in Wake County and beyond. Together, they will accelerate facility and services investments and launch transformative programs that expand access, deepen community partnerships, and drive health care transformation — while upholding their shared commitment to provide care for all.

This agreement will unite WakeMed, the Triangle’s leading community-based health system, with Atrium Health, North Carolina’s largest health provider, to address critical health care needs while continuing to focus on their shared mission-driven commitments to the patients and communities they serve. In addition to accelerating our combined ability to keep pace with health care transformation, bringing these systems together includes a $2 billion investment in Wake County, the creation of more than 3,300 new health care jobs, expanded services for 1 million people across North Carolina, and the development of the state's largest nonprofit mental health network.

"For more than 65 years, WakeMed has been a beacon of hope and healing for the Wake County area and beyond. This combination represents a significant next step in building upon this legacy, amplifying our impact and ensuring a thriving nonprofit health care future for all we serve," said Donald Gintzig, president and CEO of WakeMed. "WakeMed and Atrium Health are united in a shared commitment to serving our communities, and by building upon our complementary strengths, we can have an even greater impact on the health and well-being of Wake County and the entire state."

Atrium Health is part of Advocate Health, the nation's third-largest nonprofit academic health system, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine as its academic core.

“This combination is about meeting people where they are — with care that fits their lives and stays rooted in the community,” said Eugene A. Woods, chief executive officer of Advocate Health. “It starts with a $2 billion investment in Wake County — one of the largest health care commitments this region has ever seen — but the impact goes far beyond dollars. It means nationally recognized specialty care closer to home, more convenient and affordable care, including virtual visits, stronger mental health support, and 3,300 new health care jobs to help this community continue to thrive. We’re honored to welcome WakeMed into the Atrium Health family, and we’re excited about what we’ll build together — for our neighbors, our patients, and our teammates — for many generations to come.”

This combination positions the organizations to work together to further elevate the quality of health care across the communities we serve, attract and develop top medical talent, and accelerate research and innovation — laying the foundation for statewide centers of excellence in numerous clinical specialties and subspecialties.

Accelerating economic growth and creating jobs

The transformative $2 billion investment will help expand WakeMed’s footprint to meet growing community needs, including redevelopment and expansion of the flagship Raleigh Campus with additional inpatient beds and modern infrastructure. It will also include the expansion of Cary Hospital and North Hospital with much-needed inpatient beds and services, further development of inpatient and outpatient services at the WakeMed Garner Whole Health Campus which is under development, and construction of two new Healthplex locations offering stand-alone emergency departments and accessible outpatient services – all resulting in new and expanded services to meet the demands of the rapidly growing population. Additionally, 3,300 new health care jobs are anticipated to be generated over the next five years in Wake County, spanning clinical care, research, education, biosciences and support roles.

Advancing access and affordability for communities

To help ensure more people can get the right care at the right time, this strategic combination will establish North Carolina’s largest virtual care network — adding at least 100,000 new virtual visits year over year — to provide convenient, 24/7 on-demand access to care across the WakeMed service area and beyond. Additionally, it will bring new advanced specialty and sub-specialty services closer to home, in areas such as cancer care, neurosciences, pediatric specialties and more. As part of this combination, the organizations will improve affordability and remove cost-related barriers for vulnerable members of our communities by expanding financial assistance for WakeMed patients from 300 to 400% of the federal poverty level.

Transforming mental health services

This combination will create the state’s largest non-profit mental health care network of more than 360 behavioral health inpatient beds to help meet North Carolina’s growing need for inpatient treatment. The plan also expands access to outpatient mental health services by growing behavioral health networks across the state and implementing leading-edge research and treatment methods through partnerships with national leaders in mental health care.

Expanding community partnerships to strengthen health and safety-net programs

Atrium Health and WakeMed will collaborate with public and private community-based organizations to understand areas of greatest need and invest in programs that improve health and well-being while closing gaps in outcomes. It also builds upon efforts to address social drivers of health across all care sites — connecting patients to needed resources for healthy food, housing, transportation, medications and personal safety — while leveraging the WakeMed Center for Community Health model of trauma-informed care and community health management to improve access for vulnerable populations.

Igniting health innovation, research and education

This combination will expand medical education and training opportunities with Wake Forest University School of Medicine, creating new residency and fellowship opportunities at WakeMed. It will also strengthen clinical training partnerships with community colleges and universities to build the workforce pipeline, bring advanced treatments to WakeMed through the Advocate Health National Center for Clinical Trials, and develop an innovation corridor to attract life-sciences and health-tech companies — building on innovation districts in Charlotte and Winston-Salem and exploring new partnerships in the Research Triangle and beyond.

To help pave the way for the strategic combination to be finalized, the Wake County Board of Commissioners must approve an amended transfer agreement* and articles of incorporation. WakeMed and the Wake County Board of Commissioners have agreed to adjust the transfer agreement vote date to provide the space and time for all to gain a full understanding of the tremendous impact and value this combination will bring to Wake County and the communities we serve. The amendments to the transfer agreement and articles of incorporation are anticipated to be back in front of the Board of Commissioners in approximately 90 days.

With the necessary County approval, the proposed combination will be submitted for further regulatory review, followed by a structured integration process to bring the organizations closer together. Initial investments will be focused on facility expansion, mental health infrastructure, virtual care network development and workforce expansion. Additional details about specific timelines will be shared as information is available in the coming months.

Gintzig added, “WakeMed has a long history of stepping up to meet the needs of our community. It is in our DNA. We are confident that this combination will further our commitment to our patients and their families and help us deliver on our mission and more for decades to come.”

*The April 1997 Transfer Agreement permitted WakeMed to become an independent non-profit entity and transferred assets from Wake County ownership to WakeMed ownership.

Learn more about WakeMed and Atrium Health's planned strategic combination. 

About WakeMed Health & Hospitals

Serving the community since 1961, WakeMed is a not-for-profit health care system founded and based in Raleigh, N.C. WakeMed exists to improve the health and well-being of our community by providing outstanding and compassionate care to all. WakeMed’s 973-bed system comprises a network of facilities throughout the Triangle area, including three full-service hospitals, a mental health & well-being hospital, eight emergency departments, a dedicated Children’s Hospital and Rehabilitation Hospital, two exceptional Trauma Centers — a Level I Trauma Center in Raleigh and a Level III Trauma Center in Cary, and more than 175 physician and physical therapy practice offices. WakeMed’s mission-driven team includes more than 12,800 employees, 1,300 volunteers, and 1,300 affiliated physicians along with a network of 900+ primary care and specialty providers with WakeMed Physician Practices — all representing the best minds and the biggest hearts and the finest quality in health care and community health. For more information, visit www.wakemed.org or follow WakeMed on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Atrium Health

Atrium Health is advancing clinical care and research across the communities it serves by redefining care for all. The care network is anchored by Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, an academic medical center in Charlotte that includes Levine Children’s Hospital, Levine Cancer Institute and Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, along with 11 hospitals, more than 900 care locations and over 1,400 physicians serving communities across the greater Charlotte region. It is part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States. Advocate Health is a preeminent academic health system at the forefront of clinical excellence, innovation and research, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as its academic core. Nationally recognized for expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, Advocate Health is also a pioneer in the delivery of virtual health care. It’s accelerating discovery by making research participation part of the standard-of-care through its one-of-a-kind National Center for Clinical Trials. Advocate Health has one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs, with an experiential learning focus and specialized residencies to help protect the long-term sustainability of rural health care in America. Each campus of the school of medicine has an affiliated life-sciences focused innovation district: The Pearl, in Charlotte, and Innovation Quarter, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. With more than 165,000 teammates serving patients at 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations across eight states, Advocate Health reinvests over $6 billion each year to improve community health, making it one of the nation’s largest providers of community benefit.