UNC Health Rex is expanding its Holly Springs hospital, adding more beds to meet the needs of a growing community.
The extra 24 beds will be on the seventh floor, creating a total of 74 beds for patients. The hospital has also hired 50 employees for the expansion. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Thursday to celebrate the new space, which is nearly finished and will open in the coming weeks.
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A spokesperson for UNC Health Rex said the expansion will lower wait times in the emergency department, adding, "it will help expand capacity, allow for more admissions and reduce wait times in the fast-growing region."
According to the spokesperson, Holly Springs, which has a population of approximately 48,000, has seen a 35% increase between 2020 and 2025, making it the fastest-growing town in Wake County by percentage.
The new addition has been in the works since the hospital opened in 2021. Over the past year, the hospital has delivered 1,121 babies and seen 34,463 emergency department visits and 4,503 surgeries.
UNC Health Rex officials said this means people often have to wait more than 24 hours for a bed in the emergency department. They hope adding more beds will change that.
"By adding these 24 additional beds, that will help alleviate some of the stress, especially in our emergency room, which obviously experiences that problem almost every day," said Roy Tempke, chief operating officer for UNC Health Rex Holly Springs Hospital. "It's really quite remarkable."
UNC Health Rex Holly Springs also has plans to add another operating room and another patient tower in the next 5 to 10 years.