Duke LifePoint Healthcare has completed its acquisition of Person Memorial Hospital in Roxboro.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper approved the deal, which calls for the 50-bed hospital to become part of the Duke LifePoint, the joint venture between the Duke University Health System and the private LifePoint Hospitals of Tennessee.

The hospital, which has been run by Duke Health for 13 years, is licensed for 110 beds.

Duke has said it will spend $15 million on capital improvements at the hospital over the next 10 years; at least $6 million in the first five years. The deal will also eliminate Person Memorial's debt. Other financial details were not disclosed.

The Person Memorial deal is just the latest for Duke LifePoint. Earlier this year, it signed an agreement to jointly own and operate Maria Parham Medical Center in Henderson, and acquired the N.C. cardiac catheterization operations of MedCath Partners. It is now called DLP Cardiac Partners.

A joint venture that includes the Duke University Health System plans to invest $15 million to improve Person Memorial Hospital during the next decade, as part of its deal to buy the hospital.

Duke LifePoint Healthcare announced in June that it planned to buy Person Memorial in Roxboro, about 55 northwest of Raleigh. Duke LifePoint announced today that it's reached an agreement with the Person Memorial board and the deal is expected to close within 90 days.

The joint venture will invest $15 million in capital improvements at Person Memorial, including at least $6 million during the first five years. Proceeds from the acquisition will eliminate the hospital's debt, and any remaining funds will go to a new community foundation.

The Duke University Health System will officially open a $12.7 million orthopaedic center near Research Triangle Park today, the latest example of a medical building boom across this region.

While a relatively small part of the Duke medical empire, the Duke Orthopaedic Center is also part of a broader trend of hospital systems opening satellite facilities to improve convenience for patients.

The center is at the intersection of I-40 and Page Road. That's the heart of the Triangle, based on population density, and will make it easier for patients who don't want to travel to Duke's busy main campus, said David Attarian, a Duke orthopaedic surgeon who will help run the new clinic.

And it's close to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, to help attract more national and international patients, he added.

A joint venture between the Duke University Health System and a for-profit hospital corporation will invest $45 million in improvements at Maria Parham Medical Center in Henderson over the next decade.

Duke and LifePoint Hospitals announced in January that they planned to buy Maria Parham, a 102-bed hospital about 45 miles north of Raleigh. It was the first acquisition by the joint venture, known as Duke LifePoint Healthcare.

Officials announced today that they have an agreement with Maria Parham's board. The deal still requires approval from the N.C. Attorney General, and is expected to close within 90 days.

Person Memorial Hospital in Roxboro plans to become the second community hospital in North Carolina to affiliate with a joint venture formed by the Duke University Health System and LifePoint Hospitals.

Person Memorial's board announced this morning it is negotiating with Duke LifePoint Healthcare on a proposed acquisition. The hospital, which opened in 1950 and is licensed for 110 beds, is the latest small facility to seek safety in a larger health system.

The consolidation is being fueled in part by rising medical costs and the federal health overhaul. Smaller hospitals face tough challenges in paying for new technology and negotiating with health insurers in the new environment.

Duke's health system and others, including the UNC Health Care System, are looking to buy or partner with smaller hospitals to establish larger medical networks, improve care and create new efficiencies.

The state's largest health insurer is expanding its on-site hospital billing service to the Duke University Health System.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina started posting employees on location at Raleigh-based WakeMed in 2009 to work with physicians and billing departments. The goal to resolve claims questions faster and more efficiently.

The insurer previously expanded the program to the UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill and is in discussions about doing it at other hospitals. Adding Duke gives Blue Cross partnerships with the Triangle's three biggest hospital systems.

Don't expect the Duke University Health System to jump into a bidding war for Rex Healthcare.

Victor Dzau, CEO of the Duke health system, didn't dismiss the possibility outright, but said that Duke is taking a very careful approach of using resources to expand its network of facilities and providers.

"Developing the right network is very important to us," Dzau said in a phone interview. "With health-care reform, there are many moving parts. Any opportunity has to fit into a long-term plan. ... We're not going to be distracted by this or that."

WakeMed's surprise, and hostile, offer on Thursday to buy cross-Raleigh rival Rex from the UNC Health Care System for $750 million fueled speculation that other bidders could emerge. UNC officials have said Rex isn't for sale, but that they will consider WakeMed's offer carefully.

A joint venture between the Duke University Health System and a Tennessee hospital chain has bought nine heart labs across North Carolina from Charlotte-based MedCath.

It's the second deal for DLP Healthcare since the joint venture announced in February an agreement to run Maria Parham Medical Center in Henderson, a 102-bed hospital about 45 miles north of Raleigh.

DLP is a partnership between the Duke health system and LifePoint Hospitals, a publicly traded company based in Brentwood, Tenn., that operates 52 hospitals in 17 states.

Duke and LifePoint are seeking other deals with community hospitals and other providers. Other health systems, including the UNC Health Care System, also are looking to expand as federal health reform and other factors drive consolidation in the medical industry.

Nearly two years after winning regulatory approval for Wake County's fifth hospital, WakeMed is moving ahead with plans to expand its medical campus in North Raleigh.

The Raleigh-based health system postponed construction of WakeMed North Hospital when the economy cooled and officials turned their attention to other expansion projects, including a $99 million patient tower and children's hospital at its main campus.

WakeMed will announce today that it expects to break ground on the 61-bed hospital focused on women's services this fall and open it in late 2013.

"We shuffled several projects last year, but the economy is coming around, we think," said WakeMed CEO Bill Atkinson. "The timing is very good" because the weaker construction market has reduced costs for materials and labor.

WakeMed will seek to expand the rehabilitation hospital at its main Raleigh campus to provide more services for a growing and aging population of patients recovering from strokes, joint replacements and traumatic injuries.

WakeMed officials will apply with state regulators this week for permission to add 14 beds at its existing rehab facility, which already has 84 beds. The expansion would allow WakeMed to offer more specialized care, said Stan Taylor, the hospital's vice president of corporate planning.

"When you get to a critical mass of around 100 beds, you can really do some things smaller hospitals can't," he added during a phone interview last week. "This additional allocation of beds would move us up to a level with world-reknowned programs" such as the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.

But other hospitals in this region will submit their own proposals for the 14 beds, which state regulators have determined this area needs to meet increasing demand. Applications are due this week to the state's Certificate of Need office, which controls major medical projects to limit costs.