WakeMed Health & Hospitals will open its sixth emergency department in the county on Friday in the Brier Creek area of northwest Raleigh.

The 50,000-square-foot Brier Creek Healthplex includes an emergency department with 12 private treatment rooms, diagnostic imaging, lab services and physicians offices, including a Wake Orthopedics office.

Friday's event will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The first 500 visitors get a free first aid kit.

The center is located just off U.S. 70 at 8001 T.W. Alexander Drive.

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.

Two cardiothoracic surgeons are leaving Carolina Cardiovascular Surgical Associates to form a new practice affiliated with Rex Healthcare.

The two surgeons, Lance E. Landvater and Robert B. Peyton, are the latest Wake County doctors to change affiliations, moves that are being driven by both competition between and Rex and federal health care reform.

The two were part of an 8-surgeon team at Carolina Cardiovascular Surgical Associates. The practice is based at WakeMed but the group's surgeons have privileges to operate at both hospitals.

Landvater and Peyton will be co-medical directors of the new Rex practice, to be called Rex Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialists.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and WakeMed have expanded their relationship at WakeMed's Raleigh campus on New Bern Avenue.

Under a new pilot program, BCBS will have customer service people on site during the week to assist patients and case managers.

It's the first time BCBS has placed customer service employees in a hospital to help with claims and benefits.       

Previous versions of the on-site service model involved BCBS professionals working with hospital billing departments to help answer patient questions.

The N.C. Biotechnology Center has awarded three, $30,000 loans to help small life-science companies get going.

The nonprofit, state-funded center provides low interest loans to promising companies. The goal is to provide early funding until companies can attract the attention of bigger investors.

The loans are part of the Biotech center's mission to bolster the industry and its role as a job-creation engine across the state.

The three companies each received the maximum $30,000 loan to pay for non-scientific business start-up activities.

The companies include (click "Read More"):

GlaxoSmithKline’s North Carolina employees will soon have the option to participate in a pilot health care program designed to reduce costs and improve results through more coordinated care.

The public-private partnership, called First in Health, will allow GSK’s 10,000 employees and dependents to access a system that has been used by the state to serve Medicaid recipients for the past decade.

That system uses a “medical home” approach that relies on a patient’s primary care physician to coordinate care among various other health providers.

The system, which was created by Community Care of North Carolina, has drawn national attention for its ability to save nearly $1.5 billion in health care costs over the last three years.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield is seeking a 6.35 percent rate hike for individuals who buy its Blue Advantage health plan.

If approved by the N.C. Department of Insurance, the higher rates would start Jan. 1. Last year, Blue Cross asked for a 6.97 percent increase but agreed to a 5.37 percent hike as part of a settlement with the DOI.

Rates would remain the same for Blue Options HSA and Blue Saver plans, which are high-deductible plans with lower premiums but fewer benefits. Those plans have about 80,000 members.

Blue Advantage is a traditional co-pay plan with about 265,000 members.

As the state's largest health insurer, Blue Cross dominates the market for individual coverage. Its clout also helps determine rates that other insurers in North Carolina are able to set.

Wake County's largest hospital has won approval from state regulators to expand its rehabilitation facility.

The $2.4 million project will allow WakeMed to renovate existing space and add 14 rehab beds at its flagship campus in Raleigh. That will give WakeMed 98 rehab beds, allowing it to treat more patients and provide more specialized care.

Rehab services include helping patients recover after a stroke, traumatic injury or major surgery. Demand is surging, driven by this region's growing and aging population.

State regulators this week approved WakeMed's proposal and rejected bids from Duke Raleigh Hospital, UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill and Johnston Memorial Hospital in Smithfield. At least one of those rival hospitals are likely to appeal, and a legal fight could at least delay when WakeMed starts its project.

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.