The Brief
- Atlanta officials are pushing to eliminate a critical healthcare desert expanding across the city’s southside.
- The Atlanta City Council unanimously approved a resolution requesting crucial funding from Fulton County for a new medical center.
- A major healthcare provider has already invested $70 million to purchase 40 acres for the planned hospital site.
ATLANTA – The Atlanta City Council is moving aggressively to build a new hospital on the city’s southside after passing a unanimous resolution to secure the final piece of an $800 million funding puzzle.
Atlanta healthcare expansion
What we know:
A healthcare crisis began gripping the Southside when Atlanta Medical Center shut its doors in 2022, following the closure of Atlanta Medical Center South in East Point that same year. City officials are trying to fill this gap through a massive $800 million medical center project. This week, the effort gained momentum when council members voted unanimously on a resolution asking Fulton County to contribute funding.
Atrium Health and the Morehouse School of Medicine are partnering on the investment. Atrium Health has already spent $70 million to buy 40 acres of land on Metropolitan Parkway in southwest Atlanta where the facility will stand. The city has committed $100 million using tax allocation districts, leaving Fulton County as the final outstanding partner. Fulton County officials are being asked to provide $20 million annually over the next 10 years, which could be added to an existing hospital bond for Union City.
Fulton County funding
What we don’t know:…