UNC Health and Duke Health are partnering to build a new children's health system that will include North Carolina's first freestanding pediatric hospital, the pair announced Tuesday. | The academic health systems' vision,

The facility, called “N.C. Children’s,” was characterized as a “decade-long goal” for both institutions and is expected to lessen the strain on other regional facilities amid increased demand for care.

Duke Health and UNC Health are creating a new nonprofit, North Carolina Children’s, to build and operate the 500-bed hospital. A site has not yet been chosen but is expected to be announced this summer. It will involve a campus of at least 100 acres with a children’s outpatient center and a children’s behavioral health hospital.