Moses Cone to open High Point facility on June 1

Accompanying Photos

Photo Caption: Moses Cone MedCenter

HIGH POINT — Moses Cone Health System will open a 12-bed emergency room in High Point on June 1, the first phase of its Moses Cone MedCenter High Point.

The emergency room will take pressure off crowded emergency departments at Moses Cone and Wesley Long hospitals, said Deno Adkins, director of the new center and Moses Cone's MedCenter Kernersville.

The 24-hour ER will offer many conventional services for injuries and illnesses, he said, but emergency medical responders will often make the final decisions on whether a person needs treatment at one of the bigger ERs in Greensboro.

"We don't want people to think about all of that," said hospital spokesman Doug Allred. "Dial 911 and let those guys think of that. If you've got a kid with an earache at 2 in the morning, we're open. (It's for the) church softball league on Sunday afternoon and something happened to your knee, and it's swelling up."

The $30 million medical center at 2630 Willard Dairy Road, near N.C. 68, is also designed to be more convenient to the growing population in north High Point, Oak Ridge and Colfax, Adkins said.

"Hospitals are bringing more care locally to the community," he said. "It's not just a movement by Moses Cone... Nationally more health systems are moving into free-standing outpatient facilities to serve those areas."

They're not meant to replace bigger hospitals, though. In Greensboro, Moses Cone's emergency department offers 45 beds, and Wesley Long offers 21, Allred said.

The High Point operation opens almost a year after the Kernersville medical center.

In July, Moses Cone will open several new services in High Point: a LeBauer Primary Care clinic, a regional cancer center and an orthopedic rehab center. Full imaging services from x-ray to MRI will be available, and Moses Cone also plans to bring medical specialists to the center, Adkins said.