Deanne Avery, CHC, EDAC, Director, capital projects, planning, design and construction, UNC Health Blue Ridge (Morganton, N.C.)

Deanne Avery has spent her 20-year career at UNC Health Blue Ridge, a rural community healthcare system delivering healthcare and wellness services across a three-county region of Western North Carolina. In 2009, she became director of capital projects, where she’s responsible for overseeing all design and construction projects across UNC Health Blue Ridge’s two hospital campuses in Morganton and Valdese, N.C.—a role that keeps her busy.

Specifically, she managed the design and construction of more than $175 million in master planning projects for the two campuses, including a new cancer center addition that opened in August 2023 on the Valdese campus and a new six-story, 220,000-square-foot bed tower with emergency department and ICU patient unit, expected to open this fall on the Morganton campus.

Wearing multiple hats, Deanne not only oversees design and construction but also serves as equipment planner and liaison to the system’s information technology group, as well as provides construction support for facilities maintenance and recommendations to the hospital’s senior leadership and board.

She has a vast knowledge of life safety and construction that is invaluable. Bringing the Morganton project through the pandemic, she overcame escalation and budget challenges, leading the design and construction team through target value design efforts to help mitigate construction industry increases. She also served as the liaison between UNC Health Blue Ridge and the Joint Commission, preparing for and coordinating with them during their inspections.

Growing up in Morganton and with a deep connection and understanding of the community, she has taken measures to ensure both projects are truly integrated with the community, leading tours for numerous community groups, local government, and staff members to ensure the community’s and staff members’ voices were heard in the design of the new spaces.

Additionally, she helped introduce new, modern processes and workflows that help increase staff efficiency while improving the patient experience. For example, the new ICU unit in the Morganton bed tower will utilize a decentralized nursing model with nurse alcoves outside of the patient rooms, and Avery was key in educating the staff on why this change from the organization’s centralized nursing model will benefit patient care.

Through her efforts, Avery is helping transform and shape these rural campuses, growing care capacities and services while having a positive impact on the communities they serve.

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