POOLER, Ga. (WSAV) – A stand-alone, 24-hour emergency room in an ever-growing city: it’s something a lot of people want, according to Mayor Karen Williams.
“I have a file here of hospital emails full of residents who are emailing me saying, ‘Please fight for this,’ so I’m not going to ignore them,” said Williams.
She was lobbying in Atlanta for a week while attending the GMA Cities United Training Conference to repeal a decades-old bill that requires hospitals to get a certificate of need (CON) to build.
The law has been voted to be repealed by the Georgia State Senate, although movement has not been made in the House of Representatives.
As Williams says, the need is greater now than ever, with Pooler’s population growing exponentially, and emergency patients having to endure at least a 25-minute ride to the nearest hospital.
“A stand-alone ER in Pooler would alleviate some of the traffic that does go to three hospitals in Savannah,” said Williams.
The State Department of Community Health approved Memorial Health’s application for a 12-bedroom emergency room in Pooler in 2020; they have since deemed it pending thanks to the CON law.