LISTEN: The city is supporting a multi-use project in the place of Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center, which closed suddenly in 2022. GPB's Sofi Gratas reports.
A concrete portico at one of Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center’s former main entrances was the first to get torn down as part of the demolition, which will go into next year.
The tearing down of the entrance on Parkway Drive N.E. is a break in the years-long moratorium on development put in place by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens after the hospital in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward closed suddenly.
Now the city is supporting a multi-use project in its place.
The hospital was for years known as Georgia Baptist Hospital, and then Atlanta Medical Center under Tenet Healthcare, before it was sold to Wellstar Health System in 2016.
It became a Level 1 Trauma Center in 2011, joining the ranks with Grady Memorial Hospital.
But citing financial pressures due to aging infrastructure, uncompensated care and "the pain of the end of government pandemic aid," Wellstar moved to close Atlanta Medical Center and a smaller hospital in East Point in 2022. The decision sent shockwaves beyond Atlanta's borders.
Following the closure, some state Democrats raised concerns about discrimination since the hospital served a majority Black community, though Wellstar leadership claimed they had no other options.
The new plan at the site, which developers are calling “Boulevard Next” or BLVDNEXT, includes mixed income apartments, retail and green space, and has Wellstar’s support.
“This is about re-knitting a part of the city of Atlanta, stitching back a community that was sort of severed from both disinvestment and the freeways,” said Egbert Perry of Integral Group, the development company overseeing the project. “We are committed to revitalize in the community with empathy and foresight.”
There is no cost estimate for the project at this point, a company spokesperson said. Integral Group has overseen the development of several other housing projects in Atlanta.
Although cheers ran through the crowd on the first day of demolition, former Atlanta Medical Center staff were not so pleased. Many cried as the concrete was torn apart.
Daniella Kington, a surgeon at Wellstar, worked at the hospital for 10 years first as a resident and then as an attending physician. She considers her former coworkers family.
“We are heartbroken to see it come down,” she said. “At the same time, it's been two years since the hospital closed. We're not all coming back to work together every day, unfortunately. So we all have to move forward. That is the reality.”
Many former staff say back when the hospital closed, they were offered jobs elsewhere — at other Wellstar locations as well as at Grady Memorial and other partnering hospitals.
But they worry about the gap left behind by Atlanta Medical Center. The new development plan includes mention of “health and wellness resources” but doesn’t specify access to primary health care.
Emergency health care in the area has been strained since the hospital closure. For example, Grady experienced a 35% to 40% increase in trauma patient volume and a 20% to 30% increase in patients coming to give birth. That increase has remained consistent since the closure, according to information from Grady administration.
“I think it's unfortunate that we can't find a way to provide more health care in this area,” said Kington, who lives in Old Fourth Ward. “But I think those things are multifaceted and this is the direction that the city, the neighborhood have decided to move. And I hope that it will be beautiful.”
Approximately 1.8 million square feet of structure will be torn down during the demolition process, said Chad Maddock of the FERMA Corporation. But residents shouldn't expect any explosions as part of the process.
“It's a very slow, tedious process for two reasons,” he said. “It's very controlled, and to minimize the impact of the neighborhood.”
Perry with the Integral Group said there will be lots of opportunity for community engagement as the plan takes shape.
