Atrium Health, di biggest North Carolina hospital system operator, don ready to expand dia healthcare reach for Georgia. Dis month dem spend $70 million to buy one 40-acre property for southwest Atlanta, wey dey near di West End light rail station, as di Atlanta Business Chronicle report. Di company confirm di report say dem dey happy to dey part of Atlanta’s plan for economic development and to address di needs of more vulnerable communities.
Di area for southwest Atlanta no dey receive plenty investment like di more affluent parts of di city, but new developments dey increase di available retail sites and housing units dia. Di Atrium property dey close to di popular Beltline trail and about one mile south of di Atlanta University Center wey house historically Black colleges like Morehouse, Spelman, and Clark Atlanta University.
Earlier last year October, Atrium announce say dem partner with one affiliate to open primary care clinic for East Point, Atlanta suburb. Di clinic go provide more resources for an area wey no get enough healthcare services.
Atrium na major player for Georgia healthcare scene sake of say since 2018 dem don dey work with Navicent system, di main hospital operator for Macon area. Dem also acquire another not-for-profit system wey own hospitals for Rome and Cedartown, Georgia, plus Centre, Alabama. Dis year, dem still do big transaction with Advocate Aurora Health wey dey Downers Grove, Illinois.
Di major hospital operators for Atlanta now include Northside Hospital with five hospitals, Wellstar with nine hospitals mostly for Atlanta and Augusta, Emory University, di 643-bed Piedmont Hospital for Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, and Grady Health System wey dey Fulton and Dekalb counties. None of these not-for-profit systems get di kind size wey Advocate Health get, as dem make revenue of $31.7 billion in 2023.
Di Business Chronicle report say di Atlanta property get former warehouses, some of which dem build by Coca-Cola founder Asa Candler in 1914. Dose warehouses bin house agricultural projects and later turn to military manufacturing site. Recently, “Met Atlanta” don turn to hub for artists and makers.
