Rex Healthcare is planning a $120 million renovation and expansion at its flagship hospital in Raleigh.

Rex officials will seek state permission next week to build a new facility for its heart services, expand its same-day surgery facilities and construct a new entrance, said spokeswoman Lisa Schiller.

The renovations and other improvements are part of a broader plan to expand facilities at the 65-acre campus at the corner of Lake Boone Trail and Blue Ridge Road.

The proposal is just the latest in a series of expansions planned or underway at Triangle hospitals. Rex's larger rival WakeMed recently opened a $99 million patient tower on its Raleigh campus.

Wake County's largest health system has recruited a new No. 2 executive from a Greensboro hospital.

WakeMed announced today that it has hired Tom Gettinger, president of the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, as its new chief operating officer. He will report to CEO Bill Atkinson.

Gettinger, 46, replaces Deborah G. Friberg, who left WakeMed in January to join a Milwaukee hospital. Gettinger joined the Moses Cone Health System in 1992.

Raleigh-based WakeMed runs medical facilities across Wake County, including hospitals in Cary and North Raleigh, as well as its flagship campus in Raleigh. The nonprofit also is one of the Triangle's largest private employers, with more than 7,500 workers.

Johnston Health named Charles W. Elliott Jr., who has served as its interim chief executive officer since October, as its new CEO.

Elliott, 57, replaces former CEO Kevin Rogols, who was fired last fall after health system officials said they wanted a fresh perspective and had lost some confidence in his ability to lead.

The system, which includes hospitals in Smithfield and Clayton, is run by an outside management company, Quorum Health Resources.

There were four candidates vying for the CEO spot. Elliott, a native of Atlanta, took the spot because of his more than 30 years of experience managing hospitals. That career included serving as CEO of Rowan Regional Medical Center, a 268-bed hospital in Salisbury.

One of Wake County's largest employers is reinstating an incentive plan it suspended earlier this year as the recession raged.

WakeMed next month will hand out about $6.5 million in checks through its "WakeShare" program. The program was canceled in March to help WakeMed meet its budget for the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30.

But other cost-cutting, including eliminating 85 jobs in September, allowed the Raleigh-based health system to exceed its earlier financial projections. WakeMed also recently received high marks on a quality and patient satisfaction survey and the hospital's management wanted to reward workers.

"We could not be more proud of what you have helped WakeMed achieve in one of its most challenging financial years due to the nation's economic trial," CEO Bill Atkinson wrote in a memo to WakeMed's more than 7,500 employees.

Wake County's largest hospital system is exploring a potential partnership with a private company that runs a chain of outpatient surgery centers across the country.

WakeMed's discussions with Surgical Care Affiliates could lead to various collaborations, including SCA managing WakeMed's three outpatient facilities in Raleigh and Cary.

Another possibility would involve WakeMed buying a majority stake in SCA's only local facility, the Blue Ridge Surgery Center just down the street from rival Rex Healthcare.

The two organizations expect to decide on an agreement by the end of February. WakeMed CEO Bill Atkinson said hospital officials have talked with Birmingham, Ala.-based SCA for several years about joining forces.

Tapping SCA's experience will help as Wake County's population continues to grow and WakeMed looks at adding more outpatient centers, Atkinson said. Demand for such centers, which are seen as a way to control medical costs compared with inpatient hospitals, could increase with a reformed health-care system.

Novant Health of Winston-Salem will take over management of Franklin Regional Medical Center in Louisburg, as part of a restructuring of joint venture with Health Management Associates announced today.

In March 2008, Novant purchased a 27 percent ownership of seven Carolinas hospitals, including Franklin Regional, from HMA.

With the restructuring, Novant increases its ownership interest to 99 percent in Franklin Regional, located about 30 miles northeast of Raleigh.

The deal will allow Novant to become more involved in patient care, physician partnerships and community outreach, said Novant president Paul Wiles.

Novant recently lost a bid to build a community hospital in Holly Springs after its proposal was rejected by state regulators. The company has wanted to expand its foothold in the fast-growing Triangle health-care market.

The company owns 12 hospitals across the Carolinas, including Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem and Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte.

RadarFind, a Morrisville company that sells wireless technology to help hospitals keep tabs on medical equipment and patients, has been acquired by a Pittsburgh corporation.

RadarFind is now a subsidiary of TeleTracking Technologies, which helps more than 800 hospitals cut costs by improving the flow of patients.

Founded in 2003, RadarFind has installed its Real Time Location System in seven hospitals. WakeMed's Cary hospital has been using the system since April.

TeleTracking will use its marketing team to sell RadarFind products to a bigger customer base, said Mike Nelson, who is now president of TeleTracking's RadarFind division.

TeleTracking plans to keep RadarFind's manufacturing and customer-support operations in Morrisville and most of RadarFind's 24 employees. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

RadarFind CEO William "Terry" Kane has stepped down, but will continue providing consulting assistance for now, Nelson said.

WakeMed has won regulatory approval to expand its North Raleigh facility and build new medical centers in Garner and Raleigh's Brier Creek area.

Wake County's largest hospital system is continuing to expand despite the recession. WakeMed officials are betting on increasing demand as the economy recovers and the region's population grows.

Expansions at other Triangle health systems also have held up during the downturn, as UNC Health Care System and Duke University Health System seek to add more services and win new customers.

"Health care is a strong and growing segment of the economy," said WakeMed CEO Bill Atkinson. "We're trying to balance where we spend time and energy, and figure out where we need to be."

Starting Monday, all 100 of the state's acute care hospitals will be tobacco free, so patients, visitors and staff will have to smoke elsewhere.

The initiative was spearheaded by N.C. Prevention Partners with a $600,000 grant from the Duke Endowment. Efforts began three years ago, and hospitals around the state have been phasing in the new smoke-free policy since then.

All the hospitals in the Triangle went smoke free last year at this time.

"North Carolina will pass a major health milestone next week," Meg Molloy, President and CEO of N.C .Prevention Partners, said in a preparted statement. "We are leading the nation in tobacco-free hospitals and, with these policies in place, millions of hospital patients, visitors and employees will be protected from exposure to harmful secondhand smoke. Hospitals are natural health leaders and are setting the pace for healthy communities in North Carolina. We are grateful to The Duke Endowment and NC Hospital Association for their unwavering support."

For more information about N.C. Prevention Partners, go to www.ncpreventionpartners.org.