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

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.

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, N.C. 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.

The change in administration in Washington, D.C., is affecting the distribution of federal funds to institutions in North Carolina, with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) pausing grants.

"Faculty from both schools will serve as clinical staff. They will also teach medical students, pediatric residents, fellows, nurses and other healthcare professionals, and they'll do so in facilities built specifically for children," said Dr. Craig Albanese, the CEO of Duke University Health System.

President Trump issued a directive temporarily halting communications, meetings and purchases related to federal health care research grants.

UNC Health and Duke Health are expected to announce a partnership to build a 500-bed children's hospital in the Triangle, people familiar with the arrangement tell WRAL. It would be the first standalone children's hospital in the state.

The Triangle's preeminent healthcare systems announced a partnership to help advance a $2 billion children's health campus in North Carolina.

The health systems announced on Tuesday a plan to build a more than 100-acre campus for the hospital called, NC Children’s.