When Northeast Georgia Medical Center's new campus in Lumpkin County opens in the fall of 2021, it will look much different than the other hospital campuses under the Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) umbrella.
Community members who have attended forums across the region this week have received a quick lesson about the "neighborhood hospital" concept, and according to NGMC officials, people seem to like the idea.
"It's been extremely well-received so far," said Sean Couch, Public Relations Manager for NGHS. "I think coming in we were really concerned we were going to have to...hammer it home and help folks realize that it's not about being a smaller hospital, [but] it's about being a more efficient hospital that provides the care that they need. We've been surprised - everybody's picked it up very quickly."
Couch made his comments Thursday night following the fourth of five community forums in the region. He said NGMC officials have been pleased with the response to the meetings. The most well-attended forum happened Monday in Lumpkin County where more than 160 people crowded a room at the Lumpkin County Parks and Recreation building in Dahlonega.
The 50 people gathered at Northlake Baptist Church in Murrayville on Thursday night heard the same presentation other groups did, learning that groundbreaking for the new hospital will happen at some point this summer at the 57-acre site on the east side of Georgia 400 just south of SR 60. Some soil bore testing is currently underway on the site.
They also learned that the new NGMC Lumpkin hospital - which now operates out of the old Chestatee Regional Hospital building in Dahlonega - will not be a large facility.
Kevin Meek with SitePoint Healthcare Partners, a firm that is consulting NGHS on the project, said the new hospital will be "smart size."
"When we talk about a neighborhood hospital, it's not a Gainesville campus - it's not 200 beds, it's not 600 beds. It's actually not even a Braselton campus," Meek said, pointing out that NGMC Braselton will soon grow to 150 beds.
While the blueprint for NGMC Lumpkin hasn't been drawn yet, the idea - according to Meek - is to build a facility around 45,000 to 60,000 square feet in size with 30 beds or fewer.
Meek pointed out that while there will be an emergency room at the new hospital, patients who come to the facility for treatment of serious or traumatic injury or illness would likely be stabilized at the Lumpkin campus and then moved to another NGMC campus for more intense treatment if needed.
Attendees also heard from Bill Stiles with The Johnson Group, another consulting firm that's assisting with the project. Stiles spoke specifically about new technology that might be available - such as video consultations with physicians - if the interest is high enough.
One more forum is scheduled for Friday in White County. It will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. at Babyland General at 300 NOK Drive in Cleveland.
