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Advocate Health heads to Charlotte skies for Atrium hospital drone deliveries. Updated March 27, 2026 9:39 AM Gift Article Charlotte-based Advocate Health is launching a drone delivery service for hospitals next year, the health care giant announced Thursday. The service will deliver prescriptions and health supplies to patients' homes. It will also help reduce turnaround time for lab results used in diagnosis and treatment, Advocate said. Advocate is the parent company of Atrium Health. Advocate claims this will be the country's largest drone system for hospitals in terms of deliveries. For the service, Advocate has contracted with Zipline, a South San Francisco-based drone company. Financial terms of the contract were not released in the announcement. Associated fees for drone delivery customers were not provided in the announcement, nor did Advocate say when it might begin the service next year. The rollout will start in Charlotte before expanding to Chicago and Milwaukee. Advocate plans to make a combined 100,000 deliveries per year across the three markets. Advocate also is exploring expansion opportunities in rural Georgia to bridge gaps in health care access. Advocate's drones will also transport specimens between hospitals in its markets, providing faster results for patients, according to Advocate. How Advocate drone delivery will work. Advocate's delivery service will start with an order such as a prescription, lab specimen or medical supply. Next, the drone will fly to a patient's yard or an Advocate facility. Upon arriving, the drone will remain up to 300 feet in the air while a pod, attached by a tether and carrying the product, descends to the ground. Precise deliveries will be made even in high winds and bad weather, according to Advocate. Drone delivery expands across the Charlotte region. Wing, a service owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., made its local debut last May at the Arboretum Shopping Center off Providence Road. Initially launched to fulfill DoorDash orders, the service has expanded to the Northcross Shopping Center in Huntersville. It was the region's first residential drone delivery provider. Following the DoorDash partnership, Walmart became the second major company to contract with Wing last June. The retail giant plans to launch its own drone operations in the University City area of Charlotte, based out of the Supercenter at 7735 N. Tryon St. More on Advocate Health. Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, and Atrium Helath is the largest provider in the Charlotte region. Advocate Health serves 6 million patients across 69 hospitals and more than 1,000 care locations. The system continues to bolster its footprint in North Carolina. It recently partnered with Wake Forest University to launch Charlotte's first four-year medical school, the centerpiece of The Pearl innovation district. This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 5:06 AM. March 12, 2026 5:16 AM March 20, 2026 5:17 AM The Charlotte Observer Chase Jordan is a business reporter for The Charlotte Observer, and has nearly a decade of experience covering news in North Carolina. Prior to joining the Observer, he was a growth and development reporter for the Wilmington StarNews. The Kansas City native is a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University.

Chicago Plan Commission gives first approvals to 340-unit apartment tower in Lincoln Park. Honore Properties and Peerless Development want to build a $102 million, 28-story project at 1415 N. Dayton St. Mar 19, 2026, 1:00pm PDT The Chicago Plan Commission gave the first approval Thursday to a high-rise in an area of Lincoln Park that's gradually becoming more dense. Honore Properties and Peerless Development's $102 million project at 1415 N. Dayton St. would be 28 stories and bring 340 apartments to the southern edge of Lincoln Park, across from Goose Island and the Salt Shed. It's an area where taller buildings are being pitched, said Angela Spadoni, principal at bKL Architecture. The City Council has already approved a 37-story residential tower nearby at 1565 N. Clybourn Ave. There's also a 27-story condo building planned at 860 W. Blackhawk St. Spadoni, whose firm designed the Dayton Street project, said the intersection of Halsted Street and North Avenue is "very vibrant," and the abundant transportation options nearby makes it an ideal site for apartments. If the proposal is approved by the City Council, the developers will demolish the site's existing four buildings - 1415 N. Dayton St., 821 W. Eastman St., 811 W. Evergreen Ave. and 1415 N. Kingsbury St. - and make additional improvements to the surrounding street. The sidewalks along Dayton and Evergreen streets will be widened to 6 feet, and streetscaping will be added. Dayton Street's sidewalk is currently about 4 feet wide, making it too narrow for pedestrians. The building would include studios up to three-bedroom apartments, with 68 affordable units. The affordable units would be for those making 60% of the average area median income. In Chicago, that's $50,400 annually for an individual renter. Two amenity decks - with the rooftop deck including a pool - are planned. Commissioners also heard a presentation from Advocate Health Care for its new hospital at the old U.S. Steel South Works site. The 52-bed hospital will open as Advocate Trinity Hospital. The five-story hospital will include 36 surgery beds, four intensive car unit beds, eight observation beds, a four-bed dialysis unit and an emergency room with 16 bays. Once open, the hospital system will close its 205-bed hospital, Trinity, at 2320 E. 93rd St., which has been operating since 1895. That property will be demolished and become green space. The new hospital is part of Advocate's $1 billion investment to close Chicago's 30-year life expectancy gap between residents on the South and North sides. Based on community feedback, Advocate Trinity Hospital President Michelle Blakely said it added community gardens to its plans, along with respite spaces for families. "We're creating an absolute community, as opposed to simply a hospital," Blakely told commissioners. "We're bringing the community into the space by including respite spaces and walking trails and other things that become attractive to the way that the community engages with the hospital and helps us further our intention to create health and wellness." The commission also approved plans for a 66-unit residential building in the north end of Fulton Market. The building, at 1201 W. Kinzie St., is "a straightforward and smallish project for this part of the Fulton Market," said Scott Borstein, attorney at Neal & Leroy on behalf of the developer. Dirk Denison Architects Managing Director Justin DeGroff said the firm designed the building to look like three smaller buildings, featuring green brick and Juliet balconies - a unique design for the area. Ald. Walter "Red" Burnett (27th) praised the project, which he said bridges the two sides of Hubbard Street, where the south portion is the typical Fulton Market high-rises and north of Hubbard Street has more townhomes and residential development. "This is a nice in-between," Burnett said. Chicago Sun-TimesMoney reporter, development As part of a weekly audio segment, we want to help you tackle your personal finance questions. Keep Watching New owner of The Hideout plans to continue venue's legacy as a cultural institution and community hub New owner of The Hideout plans to continue venue's legacy as a cultural institution and community hub Next Up In News