Health
Providing A Lifeline
New Emergency Department at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital opens at just the right time By Haisten Willis
A
s the novel coronavirus continues to rock Cobb County, the nation, and the world, many scheduled events and projects have been subject to delays or cancellations. The opposite was true for the new emergency department at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. The massive, 263,000-square-foot facility couldn’t have opened at a better time. A July 20 ribbon cutting was held for the new facility, which was in the works for nearly a decade, as a masked Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp were joined by Wellstar Board of Trustees Chair Otis Brumby III, Wellstar CEO Candice Saunders, and Wellstar Kennestone Hospital President Mary Chatman. “This historic moment is the result of an inspiring team and strong community partnership centered on bringing worldclass healthcare to every person, every time,” Saunders said during the ribbon cutting. “The new emergency department is an asset to our
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system and all of the people we care for.” The facility opened to the public three days later. Inside are 162,825 square feet of clinical space and 166 treatment beds. The Level II trauma center (defined as being able to initiate definitive care for all injured patients) is part of the state’s largest trauma network and, according to Wellstar officials, is expected to be one of the largest and busiest trauma centers in the entire nation. “We’re a Level II trauma center and a certified comprehensive stroke and certified comprehensive cardiac center,” says Nancy Doolittle, executive director of nursing and emergency services at Wellstar Kennestone. “What those designations mean is that we’re able to care for the highest level of patients. If a stroke patient needs to have intervention done, we have neurosurgeons who have the ability to do that. If somebody needs to have open-heart surgery or other procedures beyond catheterization, it allows us to do that.” The emergency department opened
after two-and-a-half years of construction after officials broke ground on the new Kennestone expansion in February of 2018. But the project was in the planning phase for more than two years prior to the groundbreaking, and the idea for it dates back roughly 10 years. In his statements at the ribbon cutting, Kemp praised both the economic impact and the health impact of the facility. “The State of Georgia proudly supports Wellstar Health System and the more than 24,000 team members who are on the front lines providing outstanding and life-saving care to Georgians,” said Gov. Kemp, according to a press release. “The new emergency department at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital will have an immediate positive impact on our community by serving as a critical care resource to Georgians experiencing medical emergencies or trauma.” The emergency department is larger than even the biggest Walmart Supercenter, and is
