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Duke Health outlines 22‑acre Garner campus with clinic, ambulatory surgery and 600 jobs
Summary
Duke Health told the Garner Town Council it plans a two‑building medical campus on Timber Drive East: a 60,000‑sq. ft. medical office building slated to begin construction Dec. 2025 and a second ambulatory building (including an emergency department and surgery center) expected in 2026–27. Duke projects about 600 jobs and emphasized oncology services and local partnerships.
Duke Health officials described plans on Oct. 21 for a new Garner campus that company leaders say will bring primary and specialty outpatient care, an ambulatory surgery center and an emergency department to 22 acres on Timber Drive East.
Dr. Matt Barber, president of Duke Health Integrated Practice, told the Town Council the project will start with a 60,000‑square‑foot medical office building intended to house primary and specialty care; if construction proceeds as planned, ground would break in December 2025 and the building would open in November 2026. A second building — described as multi‑story ambulatory space with an ambulatory surgery center and an emergency department — would begin construction in October 2026 and open about a year later, in November 2027. Barber said the campus will emphasize oncology services and could support additional buildings on the site over time.
Barber said the campus will create at least 600 jobs and deliver more than 1 million clinical encounters across the two buildings. He described Duke Health as an academic health system with roughly 3,000 providers and said Garner was selected after a multi‑site consideration process.
Council members asked operational questions. Barber said the campus will not include inpatient beds at opening but did not rule out adding beds later; he noted that adding inpatient capacity would require state Certificate of Need approvals and other regulatory steps. Council members also raised housing impacts for employees, connections to the nearby VA clinic and WakeMed, and building size questions — staff referenced preliminary estimates that the second building could be about 100,000 square feet.
The council did not take action on the Duke Health presentation; staff and Duke representatives said they will remain available to answer follow‑up questions as site planning and permitting proceed.
The town’s economic development director, Nate Gruver, said Kevin Putsafaro will be the primary Duke contact for project details and coordination going forward.
The presentation concluded with council members welcoming the investment and noting the expected economic and health‑care benefits for Garner.
