Latest news with #AtlantaMedicalCenter
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Community ‘bittersweet' over demolition of Atlanta Medical Center
Atlanta Medical Center will soon be demolished after more than 100 years as a hospital. 'It's a bittersweet moment,' Tommie Hinton, a nearby resident, said. Hinton knows how valuable the hospital was to the community. It was the place where his son was born and where his life was saved. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] 'Pretty much the reason that I'm alive is because there's walking distance to the hospital,' Hinton told Channel 2's Michael Doudna. Back in 2017, doctors saved Hinton's life after a bullet hit his femoral artery. He says doctors not only saved his life but also his leg, allowing him to be part of the hospital's demolition crew. "With time, everything changes, everything evolves, nothing's going to stay the same," Hinton said. Hinton was one of 10 Old 4th Ward residents trained by Heavy Equipment Training School. RELATED STORIES: EXCLUSIVE: Channel 2 gets an inside look before demolition of Atlanta Medical Center This is what could happen to the vacant Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center building Wellstar announces what they're going to do with the old Atlanta Medical Center 'The community is growing, so we must grow,' Marcus Haliburton Sr. said. Haliburton knows the community well and was born at the hospital. He says a donation from WellStar paid for the training of the 10 residents who now qualify to work on-site and at future locations. 'They got a skill that they can take on the road. They got certifications that they could use forever,' Lawanda Haliburton, Marcus' sister and company CEO, said. The hospital's demolition will not be a simple one, as there are some parts that have amounts of asbestos and lead. Developers of the site say it will take months to take down the hospital and had to call in special equipment. That includes a super-long excavator that can reach 14 stories into the sky, one of the largest machines of its kind in the country. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Crews begin demolition of former Atlanta Medical Center site
The Brief Demolition has begun at the site of what was once Atlanta Medical Center to make way for a new mixed-use development in Old Fourth Ward. Wellstar announced the closure of the center, which was one of the only Level 1 trauma centers in the region, in 2022, citing financial troubles. The new site will include affordable housing, residential properties, community and public green space, and retail space. ATLANTA - Crews have started clearing the site of what was once the old Atlanta Medical Center campus to make way for a new mixed-use neighborhood where residents can live, work, and shop. More than two years after its closure, demolition is now underway at the Old Fourth Ward site. The backstory Atlanta Medical Center, one of only two Level 1 trauma centers in the region, closed on Nov. 1, 2022, due to financial troubles, according to Wellstar. They also closed Atlanta Medical Center South, on the outskirts of the city, a few months before. Wellstar obtained the 460-bed facility in Atlanta's historic Old Fourth Ward neighborhood in 2016. The hospital, which originally opened more than a century ago, served area residents who were mostly poor and Black. Wellstar also closed or relocated more than a dozen other facilities affiliated with the medical center. The closures had a direct impact on the local residents, hospital employees and remaining hospitals and staff. ' The decision to close the hospital was initially widely criticized by Atlanta politicians, with Mayor Andre Dickens saying the choice left an "open wound in the heart of this community." In response, Gov. Brian Kemp boosted funding for Grady Memorial Hospital, and they added additional inpatient beds and hired former surgeons from AMC, primary care physicians and supporting staff to handle the influx of new patients. Initially, the City of Atlanta placed a series of zoning moratoriums on the property while it evaluated redevelopment options. Wellstar says a land-use plan was unanimously approved by the Atlanta City Council with the support of Mayor Andre Dickens. What we know Earlier this year, Wellstar announced that the Ferma Corporation, an engineering firm out of California, would oversee the next phase of development of the site. According to Wellstar's announcement of the plan, the 22-acre site will include affordable housing, residential properties, community and public green space, neighborhood-level retail, new street access, commercial uses, and health and well-being resources. What's next The demolition is expected to last through most of the year. There's no word just yet on when the new site will reopen. The Source Information for this story was taken from a report by FOX 5's Brooke Zauner and previous FOX 5 articles.
