CaroMont Health Begins Construction on $200M Cancer Center Expansion

CaroMont Health hosted a construction kick-off event for the new CaroMont Cancer Center, a 125,000-square-foot facility on the campus of CaroMont Regional Medical Center in Gastonia. The event marked a pivotal milestone in the health system’s $200 million investment in oncology care — the second largest investment in CaroMont Health’s history. The facility will double CaroMont Health’s oncology capacity, positioning the health system to serve approximately 3,000 new cancer patients each year across Gaston County and the surrounding region.

Designed from the ground up around the needs of cancer patients and their families, the new center will bring together medical oncology, radiation therapy, imaging and diagnostics, physician practices, laboratory, pharmacy and supportive care services in a single, connected environment. The center will house programs focused on the five most prevalent cancers in the region – breast, lung, prostate, colorectal and gynecologic – along with expanded services including brachytherapy, radiopharmaceuticals and enhanced screening programs.

The cancer center is the centerpiece of a broader $200 million oncology investment that also includes a new hematology and oncology physician office and a new radiation therapy center, both on the campus of CaroMont Regional Medical Center–Belmont. The radiation therapy center will expand radiation therapy capacity and access by more than 30 percent and will require approval from the North Carolina Healthcare Planning and Certificate of Need Section. Together, these projects will create a connected oncology network across Gastonia, Belmont and Lincolnton, linked by coordinated referral pathways, shared care teams and optimized touchpoints from primary care through survivorship.

The investment directly responds to one of the community’s most pressing health challenges. Cancer is consistently a leading cause of death among Gaston County residents, and the rate of cancer incidence continues to rise. CaroMont Health’s nationally accredited cancer programs already provide care to more than 1,500 patients each year across five counties and two states — a number that continues to grow. The investments will double that capacity from approximately 1,500 new cancer cases per year to 3,000.

Construction for the new cancer center will begin this summer with plans to open in Fall 2028, and the project has been under consideration for several years. The cancer center continues a period of historic growth for CaroMont Health. In January 2025, the health system opened CaroMont Regional Medical Center–Belmont, the first hospital ever built in Belmont and the final project in a commitment to invest more than $300 million in construction and expansion across Gaston County.