Health industry is watching development of new Braselton hospital

GAINESVILLE - Northeast Georgia Health System administrators said they think the construction of River Place, the new Braselton campus of the Northeast Georgia Medical Center, will create hundreds of jobs over the next four years.

Northeast Georgia Health System President and CEO Carol Burrell addressed the leadership of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Thursday.

"In this type of an economy, a major construction project like this [River Place at Braselton] is going to touch many, many families and lives here in Hall County," Burrell said.

Anthony Williamson, the Vice President of Service Line and Greater Braselton Development - also at the meeting - announced initial members of the new facility's design team. The firms currently in place are from out of state or from Atlanta, but he noted that those companies will hire workers from Hall County and the surrounding area as work is subcontracted for the project.

Included in the design team for the new facility are Lawler-Wood, a real estate and development company based in Knoxville, TN; architectural firm Hammel, Green and Abrahamson (HGA); and general contractor Turner Construction of Atlanta. (See separate story.)

Burrell said that the construction of the Braselton hospital is the first net new hospital to be built in Georgia in 20 years, and that's why the eyes of the entire health industry are watching to see what innovations NGHS has planned.

"There's been replacement facilities, there's been hospitals that have relocated, but there's not been a brand new hospital," said Burrell.

The new campus of the hospital is slated to open in March 2015.

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