The Marietta-based Wellstar Health System is planning to build a 230-bed hospital in Acworth.
Wellstar has filed a letter of intent with the Georgia Department of Community Health, the first step toward obtaining a certificate of need (CON) for the project, the company announced Thursday.
Wellstar Health System President and CEO Candice Saunders cited population growth in northwestern Cobb County as the main driver in the need for a new hospital.
“Wellstar is improving access to care, and this new hospital is the latest in a series of projects to do just that,” she said. “The area is growing so much that even when our new tower at Wellstar Kennestone opens next year, the region will need more hospital beds.”
“Access to health care has been expanding throughout Cobb County, but we still have an unmet need for hospital beds in the northern portion of our county,” Cobb County Commission Chair Lisa Cupid added.
Besides the new Acworth hospital and the 200-plus bed tower being added at Wellstar Kennestone, Wellstar also is building a new 100-bed hospital and medical office building in Columbia County, adding a new oncology center to Wellstar Spalding hospital, and expanding Wellstar Paulding with a new 56-bed tower and parking deck.
Wellstart also is partnering with Augusta University Medical College of Georgia’s Center for Digital Health to give rural hospitals access to specialty care.
The company plans to file a CON application for the Acworth hospital by June 23.
How to Read and Understand the News
Truth doesn’t bend because we dislike it.
Facts don’t vanish when they make us uncomfortable.
Events happen whether we accept them or not.
Good reporting challenges us. The press isn’t choosing sides — it’s relaying what official, verified sources say. Blaming reporters for bad news is like blaming a thermometer for a fever.
Americans have a history of misunderstanding simple things. In the 1980s, A&W rolled out a 1/3-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. It failed because too many people thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If we can botch basic math, we can certainly misread the news.
Before dismissing a story, ask yourself:
- What evidence backs this?
- Am I reacting to facts or feelings?
- What would change my mind?
- Am I just shooting the messenger?
And one more: Am I assuming bias just because I don’t like the story?
Smart news consumers seek truth, not comfort.
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Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service
Dave Williams is the Bureau Chief for Capitol Beat News Service. He is a veteran reporter who has reported on Georgia state government and politics since 1999. Before that, he covered Georgia’s congressional delegation in Washington, D.C.
