NGHS community meeting provides information on Lumpkin County hospital that will open in Fall of 2021

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WHITE COUNTY, Ga – Representatives from Northeast Georgia Health Systems and Sitepoint Healthcare Partners held a public information meeting at Babyland General Hospital Friday evening to introduce the community to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Lumpkin, a neighborhood hospital, that is expected to open in the Fall of 2021.

Sitepoint has developed and operated more than 40 neighborhood hospital across the nation.

The not-for-profit NGMC Lumpkin facility will be located on 57 acres just south of Ga. 400 at its intersection of Hwy. 60. Sitepoint Executive Vice President Kevin Meek explained the hospital will follow the “neighborhood” model. “What makes it different is it is customized, first and foremost,” he said. “That’s when you really start to look at the needs of the community. What services the community needs and how you can meet the need. Every community has different needs.”

In 2018, NGHS conducted a number of community focus groups. More than 2,500 community members responded to an online survey and the takeaway, Meek said, was most respondents want local access, with good quality services.

About 42 percent said emergency care is important. Others cited inpatient care, urgent care, primary care services and specialized care. “It doesn’t need to be big,” he said. “It just needs to be good.”

Meek added that it also needs to be sustainable. In other words, it needs to be in the community to stay.

Ten years ago, for profit companies recognized an opportunity and began to open neighborhood hospitals. Unfortunately the for-profit model did not work and as a result, many were forced to close. “The one box, one-trick pony just didn’t work,” said Meek. “It need to be specialized.”

In terms of physical size, neighborhood hospitals are typically between 45,000 and 60,000 square feet with 15 to 30 inpatient beds. NGMC Lumpkin is licensed for up to 52 inpatient beds. There will be fewer beds initially, but the hospital will be constructed with room for expansion in all areas.

Complete ER services will be available every day around the clock, provided by Northeast Georgia Health System physicians. It will have six ER beds and a small number of inpatient beds as well. The emergency rooms are all state-of-the-art ERs where there is one patient per room.

 

 

 

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