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.
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Before You Dismiss This Article…
We live in a time when information feels overwhelming, but here’s what hasn’t changed: facts exist whether they comfort us or not.
When A&W launched their third-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder in the 1980s, it failed spectacularly. Not because it tasted worse, but because customers thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If basic math can trip us up, imagine how easily we can misread complex news.
The press isn’t against you when it reports something you don’t want to hear. Reporters are thermometers, not the fever itself. They’re telling you what verified sources are saying, not taking sides. Good reporting should challenge you — that’s literally the job.
Next time a story makes you angry, pause. Ask yourself: What evidence backs this up? Am I reacting with my brain or my gut? What would actually change my mind? And most importantly, am I assuming bias just because the story doesn’t match what I hoped to hear.
Smart readers choose verified information over their own comfort zone.
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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.
