The Cape Fear Valley Medical Center expansion led to the creation of two new helipads, and the hospital claims it is now the tallest building in Fayetteville.

The highest point of the hospital, at 1638 Owen Drive, is 161 feet, 3 inches, making it the tallest building in the city, a news release from Cape Fear Valley Health said Thursday.

The medical center’s $110 million expansion began in September 2022 and added two floors for patient care, bringing Valley Pavilion to eight floors with mechanical space between floors.

The former Systel Tower in downtown Fayetteville, renamed in 2023 Dogwood State Bank, previously held the title of tallest in the city at 11 stories and 158 feet tall.

New helipads

Atop the hospital’s roof are two new helipads that were commissioned earlier this month to replace the one on the hospital lawn, the news release states.

New helipads allow patients to be transported by elevator directly to the hospital’s emergency department, heart and vascular center, intensive care unit or operating room; and one of the new helipads can accommodate a Black Hawk helicopter, the press release states.

What other works are part of the expansion?

CEO Michael Nagowski estimated that once the expansion is complete, there will be 187 additional full-time jobs at the medical center, the news release states.

Officials said the Valley Pavilion expansion will be completed by the end of this year and will add 100,000 square feet to the hospital, or more than 1.7 million square feet.

More: Changes are coming to Cape Fear Valley’s Owen Drive campus. Here’s what’s planned.

The interior expansion will add 92 beds to the hospital, which includes 44 adult intensive care beds and 48 adult intensive care unit beds used “for intermediate care when a patient needs more than observation but does not need intensive care level care,” according to the news. press release declared.

The additional beds will increase Cape Fear Valley Medical Center’s capacity to 762 licensed beds, officials said.

Editor Rachael Riley can be reached at [email protected] or 910-486-3528.

This article was originally published on The Fayetteville Observer: What is the tallest building in Fayetteville?