CV NEWS FEED // North Carolina’s Belmont Abbey College this week celebrated the grand opening of CaroMont Regional Medical Center – Belmont, a new hospital just east of campus where the college’s students can complete their nursing studies and serve the local community.
The college’s website states that the hospital — a partnership between Belmont Abbey College and the local group CaroMont Health — received its first patients Jan. 8. Located off Interstate 85 about 15 miles west of Charlotte, the hospital has been in the works since 2019.
“The establishment of a facility dedicated to the care of others reflects the monks’ ongoing commitment to this community,” the college’s website states. “[Belmont Abbey Abbot Placid Solari, OSB] expressed deep gratitude for this milestone in their nearly 150-year mission of love and hospitality, emphasizing how privileged we are to be part of this collaboration.”
The hospital includes an emergency department, a maternity ward, a surgical suite, and diagnostic and imaging services.
While negotiating the lease of property for the new hospital with CaroMont Health, Abbot Placid insisted that the hospital only offer health care in accordance with Catholic moral teaching as part of the ground lease, according to a 2022 Catholic News Herald article.
“The exclusion of elective abortions and sterilizations, any type of euthanasia or assisted dying goes with the lease,” Abbot Placid told the outlet. “That was a necessary condition for us to lease the property for a hospital, and they agreed to that.”
Belmont Abbey offers majors in healthcare management and nursing, as well as several pre-medical degrees. The website explains that Benedictine monks traditionally care for the sick.
“In fact, modern nursing can trace its roots (in part) to hospitals run by Benedictine abbeys during the Middle Ages,” it states.
The website also explains that the college’s healthcare programs are based in the four Benedictine Hallmarks: love, humility, hospitality, and community.
“Benedictine roots reach back 1,500 years,” the website states. “With intense focus on four hallmarks of virtue, and with faithfulness to the Ethical and Religious Directive for Catholic Health Care Services, Belmont Abbey College is uniquely qualified to bring healthcare to a needy culture.”
“CaroMont Health has provided life-changing and life-saving medical care to the citizens of Gaston County for nearly 75 years,” CaroMont Health President and CEO Chris Peek stated in 2019, when the plans first began. “This investment is a reflection of our unwavering commitment to this community and the thousands of patients who trust us to care for them.”
Peek continued by commending the work of Belmont Abbey and its new role in serving the community.
“Belmont Abbey College exemplifies the true spirit of our community – one of progress, integrity, excellence and virtue – and shares many of our core values,” he said. “Much like healthcare, education has the unique ability to enrich and support not only the recipient, but also all who surround them. A highly regarded institution like Belmont Abbey, focused on the advancement of others, strengthens our community. We are proud to be part of such a historic moment.”