The Raleigh Orthopaedic Surgery Center has opened in West Raleigh.

The facility at 3001 Edwards Mill Road is a joint venture between Rex Healthcare and the Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic. It offers out-patient care, including surgery, X-ray, MRO, physical therapy and urgent care.

The 27,707-square-foot center is on the first floor of a 98,000-square-foot building that will also house Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic's offices.

The Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic is shouldering about 80 percent of the project's $26 million cost.

The costs, and expected profits, from the $11 million surgery center are being split equally by the two health care providers in an attempt to manage health care costs.

Rex Healthcare announced Friday that it has partnered with three of the Triangle’s top neurosurgeons to form a new practice.

The practice, Rex Neurosurgery and Spine Specialists, includes three of the five partners from Raleigh Neurosurgical Clinic – Grant Buttram, Robin Koeleveld and Robert Lacin.

Buttram, Koeleveld and Lacin have done procedures at Rex for years, the hospital said, and the new practice will collaborate with oncologists at the Rex Cancer Center and specialists at the UNC Department of Neurosurgery.

Rex Healthcare and UNC Health Care System are making some changes in their senior leadership.

David Strong, president of Rex, has been promoted to chief operating officer of system affiliations at UNC Health Care. He will keep his position at Rex in addition to leading hospital and regional care sites outside of Chapel Hill for UNC Health Care. His responsibilities include partnering with other major health systems and physicians as well as developing and executing care site strategy.

Steve Burriss was promoted to chief operating officer at Rex and will be responsible for all ambulatory care and suburban operations, clinical and support service lines. He has previously worked as vice president of human resources and senior vice president of operations and ambulatory care.

Other changes include:

-Jayne Byrd  promoted to VP of surgical services

-Bob Ricker  promoted to VP of physician services

-Tom Williams promoted to VP of ambulatory services

WakeMed and Rex Healthcare announced new affiliations with medical groups today.

The Carolina Cardiovascular Surgical Associates is joining WakeMed's Wake Speciality Physicians Network while the Clinton Medical Clinic is joining the Triangle Physician Network, a joint network operated by Rex Healthcare and the UNC Health Care System.

CCSA includes four doctors and is led by W. Charles Helton.

The Clinton Medical Clinic has a staff of more than 65 that serves eastern North Carolina communities in Sampson and other surrounding counties.

Today's announcements are part of a trend of medical practices aligning themselves with large health care systems.

Three of the state's largest health systems are carrying their battle over hospital beds into overtime.

Earlier this month, regulators approved Rex Healthcare's plan to build a 50-bed hospital in Holly Springs and add a new tower on its main Raleigh campus for a heart and stroke facility. They also said WakeMed could add 51 beds — 22 at its Cary campus and 29 at its main campus on New Bern Avenue in Raleigh.

But regulators with the Department of Health and Human Services denied Rex's request to build a 40-bed hospital in Wakefield and WakeMed's application to add 79 beds on its main Raleigh campus.  And Winston-Salem-based Novant, which has been trying to enter the lucrative Triangle health care market, was shut out completely. It had hoped to put a 50-bed hospital in Holly Springs.

Now all three are appealing the ruling, a move that sets up a long legal fight that could postpone a final decision for several years.

The UNC Health Care System appears to be taking a more aggressive stance in its ongoing dispute with WakeMed over the future of Rex Healthcare.

Last week, the UNC Health Care System, which owns Rex, sent a public records request to WakeMed asking for minutes from Board of Directors meetings, agendas for those meetings and annual financial audits for the hospital system.

UNC wants documents dating back to Jan. 1, 2009.

WakeMed made a public records request of UNC last winter, seeking records such as the university system’s correspondence with Wake County doctors.

This latest request by UNC is further evidence that the dispute between the two hospital systems shows no signs of dissipating.

Rex Healthcare's medical-education television show, "Rex On Call," is moving to WRAL starting October 24.

The live call-in show will air the third Monday of each month at 1 p.m., right after the noon newscast. The show previously aired on NBC 17 on Saturday evenings.

The show's format will be the same: Folks call in with medical questions and experts answer them live on the air. Questions can also be tweeted (@rexoncall Rex now prefers

@rexhealthcare)  or emailed (Rexoncall@rexhealth.com or via web submission form) ahead of time. The first show on October 24 will focus on breast cancer and will feature radiologist Julia Taber, M.D. and oncologist Lola Olajide, M.D.

Holly Springs will finally get the hospital it wants.

On Tuesday, state regulators told officials at Rex Healthcare that they had been approved to build a 50-bed hospital in the Wake County community.

Rex will also be allowed to build a new tower on its main Raleigh campus for a heart and stroke facility.

State regulators had 101 beds to grant. The other 51 went to WakeMed — 22 for its Cary campus and 29 for its main Raleigh campus.

Novant, who has been trying to enter the Wake County market by building a hospital in Holly Springs, was denied its request.

The UNC Health Care System, facing an unsolicited and unwanted bid from WakeMed to buy Rex Healthcare, has set up a new web site aimed at providing more information on why UNC Health and Rex are "stronger together."

"This is an opportunity, not to denigrate anyone else, but to provide information about our two systems," said UNC Health spokeswoman Karen McCall. "We've been trying to make sure that people know more about UNC and Rex together."

The site includes a "Myth vs. Fact" section, patients' stories about the care they've received, patients' video testimonials, a message board and more. Most of the "Myths" are related to WakeMed's efforts to build support for its buyout bid.

WakeMed made its $750 million offer to buy rival Raleigh hospital Rex from UNC Health in May. WakeMed has since set up its own web site promoting the offer and why it will improve health care in Wake County.

UNC Health officials, including CEO Bill Roper, have made clear they're not interested in selling Rex. But they did set up a special committee of UNC Health board members to review the proposed acquisition.

The committee is continuing to collect public comments on WakeMed's offer, as part of its review process, through a feedback web site.

On Monday, the committee also outlined some of the factors it's reviewing as it considers WakeMed's proposal:

· An overview of WakeMed's strategic focus and direction;
· The alignment of missions, visions and values between the organizations;
· Whether there is evidence that the proposed acquisition would better serve the community, including lowering the cost of health care in Wake County and across the state;
· Information about the governance, capital planning, and evaluation of cultural fit; and
· Other operational considerations inherent in a complex transaction.

The UNC Health Care System has transferred $20 million to the main UNC system to help ease the universities' pain from state budget cuts.

UNC Health CEO Bill Roper announced the transfer at a joint meeting of the UNC Health and Rex Healthcare boards today in Raleigh.

Auditors are still tallying final results for the fiscal year that ended June 30, but UNC Health had a good year with its operations and investments, said spokeswoman Karen McCall. The health system expects to report an operating margin of 5 percent to 6 percent, better than the year before.

UNC President Tom Ross and UNC Chapel Hill chancellor Holden Thorp had requested the money as they reviewed the cuts the system was facing, McCall said. Last week, Ross announced that the UNC system would allocate $414 million in cuts across its system, with UNC Chapel Hill taking an 18 percent hit and N.C. State taking a 15 percent reduction.

"This is a good example of how our system is trying very hard in these tough times to stay together," McCall said. "This is an opportunity to help in an extraordinary time."