Business & Tech

New Hospital to Create 500 Local Jobs

Northeast Georgia Health System's planned 100-bed hospital expected to have significant impact on local economy.

A new hospital just minutes away from Dacula is expected to bring not only high quality medical services to the area, but also jobs.

Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) plans to build a 100-bed facility adjacent to the existing River Place Medical Plaza 1 on Thompson Mill Road. The hospital will include an emergency department, diagnostic services and more. Construction on the new hospital is expected to begin in early 2013 with a target completion date of spring 2015.

Cathy Bowers, director of public relations and marketing for NGHS, said the hospital is expected to create approximately 500 jobs once it opens, but the economic impact from the new facility will begin to be felt as soon as groundbreaking occurs.

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“There will be a lot of subcontractors that will be used from the area, so we think that it will definitely have a very positive economic impact on the community during this process,” she said.

Though construction is still a year away, the planning phase is in high gear. On Jan. 26, NGHS held the last in a series of community or “visioning” forums designed to gather input regarding plans for the new hospital. The forum, held at in Dacula, drew a small, but interested crowd. In total, about 500 people have participated in the forums.

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Bowers said the hospital design firm, HGA Architects, does a good job bringing the community into the design process and soliciting input regarding patient expectations.

“This visioning will be a very important part of their planning as they begin to go into the design phase of the project,” Bowers added.

The hope, Bowers said, is that the end product will meet the needs of the community and will be consistent with their expectations regarding the delivery of healthcare.

Those who have been unable to attend the forums may still participate in the planning process by taking a 15-minute online community engagement survey.

“The purpose of the survey is to get feedback from the community on some of the features they already value and treasure,” Bowers explained. “Its really a good way to involve people in the community.”

The survey will be available through the end of February.


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