City: Charlotte, NC

Category: Health Care

Telephone: (704) 355-2000

Address: 1000 Blythe Blvd.

Description: Carolinas Medical Center (CMC), which opened in 1940, is the flagship facility of the Carolinas HealthCare System. This system operates Charlotte-area hospitals in Elizabeth, Pineville, University, Union County, and Lincoln County, plus elsewhere in the Carolinas. With 874 beds, the medical center is the second-largest hospital in North Carolina. In addition, CMC treats a significant number of patients from South Carolina and all over the southeastern United States.The medical center has eight specialized intensive care units, serves as a regional referral center for high-risk pregnancies, and operates the area’s only hospital-based air ambulance service with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.A Level I trauma center and one of only five academic medical-center teaching hospitals in North Carolina, Carolinas Medical Center offers 11 medical and dental residency programs. The hospital also is an off-campus teaching facility for the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.The Carolinas Heart Institute is the major center for heart transplantation in the Carolinas, performing more than 15,500 cardiac surgeries and catheterizations per year. CMC also offers liver, pancreas, and kidney transplants.The 20,000-square-foot Blumenthal Cancer Center has been designated as a Teaching Hospital Cancer Program, the second-highest designation available from the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer. There are more than 100 cancer specialists involved in patient care. Unique services include Novalis Shaped Beam technology, allowing precise radiation treatment of tumors without harm to surrounding tissue, and the use of PET technology to diagnose tumors and follow the progress of treatment.Other centers within CMC include the Carolinas Neuroscience and Spine Institute with its Neuromuscular ALS Center, the MS Center, the Women’s Institute, the Orthopaedics Institute, and the James G. Cannon Research Center.The Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation, Behavioral Health Center, Carolinas College of Heath Sciences, medical complexes, primary and specialty physician practices, and extended care facilities also fall under the CMC umbrella.