Duke Health and UNC Health, the Triangle's two largest health care systems, officially announced Tuesday that they will partner together to build the state's first freestanding children's hospital here.

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.

Two North Carolina-based university health systems have announced an agreement to construct the state's first standalone children's hospital.