In North Fulton County, residents have numerous options for acute care and hospitals. But, a 2023 study found South Fulton County to be a health care desert with limited access to medical services for nearby residents.  

On Wednesday, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners approved plans to finance and build a new hospital in Union City, a $900 million project. The hospital will serve about 360,000 residents and will be developed through a partnership between Grady Health System, the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority and Fulton County government.

During the meeting, Grady Health System President and CEO John Haupert said he will retire after serving 15 years in the role. Chief Operating Officer Anthony Saul has been named president and will become CEO on Jan. 1, 2027.

The new hospital will be the main component of a larger medical campus that also includes the new freestanding emergency department scheduled to open in June, and a medical office building.

The five-story, 100,000-square-foot medical office facility will offer primary care, specialty care, orthopedic services, pediatric care, including a partnership with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Saul said. The medical office building is estimated to open late 2027 or early 2028.

The 200-bed inpatient hospital is projected to open by 2030 or 2031.

“This $900 million investment represents an opportunity to improve access, improve the health of our communities, and show the communities of the south that their care matters as much as anyone else,” Saul said.

South Fulton residents lost major medical care in 2022 when Atlanta Medical Center and AMC South in East Point closed, Fulton officials said.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Fulton Chief Operating Officer Dr. Pamela Roshell said the 2023 study showed that life expectancy in South and Central Fulton is about five years lower than in North Fulton.

Twelve ZIP codes in Fulton County have been identified as medically underserved, with eight of them located within five miles of the hospitals that closed in 2022.

Valerie Montgomery Rice, president and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine, said the vision extends beyond a single facility.

“It is not just about a hospital, it is about building an ambulatory integrated network that will place assets where people work, live, play and pray,” Montgomery Rice said. “And they should be within a two-mile radius, and they should be able to address the level of care that the person is seeking.

Montgomery Rice said would like the new hospital to include a teaching component, but Haupert said there are no plans to do so due to funding constraints. Postgraduate residencies cost $200,000 per student, he said, and there is no federal reimbursement currently available which would normally cover $135,000.

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