The proposal calls for adding more than 10,000 sf to theexisting 9,500-sf lab at a cost of $6.7 million. NorthEast expectsto fund the projects with either cash or by issuing bonds. It willbe sometime next year before the hospital will learn if it isallowed to proceed with approximately $25 million in renovationsand new facilities. Opposition could come from around Charlottesince the market areas tend to overlap and many hospitals arestriving to become full-service, industry observers say.

NorthEast revealed a master facilities plan last year thatprojected 40% growth for the hospital by 2006. The largest of theapplications from Northeast call for construction of a 13,800-sfimaging center for $6.6 million and a 25,500-sf outpatient surgerycenter for $9.8 million. The two centers would be built on asatellite site about a mile from the hospital. The hospital'slaboratory space hasn't been expanded since it opened in 1971.