GROVETOWN, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Columbia County held a VIP ribbon cutting and media tour Tuesday for Wellstar Columbia County Medical Center, the county’s first dedicated hospital, ahead of its official opening to patients Aug. 26.
Gov. Brian Kemp, Wellstar President and CEO Ketul J. Patel, and Georgia Higher Education Chancellor Sonny Perdue were among the dignitaries in attendance.
Patel said the facility was designed with residents in mind.
“We are here to take care of patients and the people in the community,” Patel said. “Because the best healthcare facilities aren’t built for a community. They’re built with the community.”
Kemp said Columbia County had been the largest county in Georgia without a designated hospital.
“Before today, this was the largest county in the state without a designated hospital,” Kemp said.
He said the facility will benefit surrounding rural counties, including Lincoln, Wilkes, McDuffie and Taliaferro.
“There is no doubt today will serve rural Georgians well,” Kemp said. “This facility will serve rural Georgians well. And you all will serve them well along Columbia County and the greater Augusta area.”
Training the next generation
Perdue, Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, said the hospital will support clinical education alongside patient care.
“It’s not just book learning — it’s really patient care and bedside manner, and they learn that at facilities like this,” Perdue said.
Ketul J. Patel, President and CEO of Wellstar, said families will gain access to a range of services previously unavailable locally.
“Families will have access to emergency care, to surgery, to advanced imaging, specialty care, and inpatient services close to home,” Patel said.
What’s inside
Wellstar Columbia County Medical Center is a six-story, $380-plus million facility located at 5000 Gateway Blvd. in Grovetown. It features 100 private inpatient rooms, six operating suites with robotic surgery capability, and is working towards being a Level II trauma-capable emergency department.
Every patient room is equipped with high-resolution cameras and digital health technology to support telehealth consults with specialists, including physicians from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. The medical center is also expected to support clinical training partnerships to help address physician shortages in the region.
Open house Saturday
While Tuesday’s VIP event was closed to the public, a community-wide open house is planned from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. Visitors can take self-guided tours through key patient areas, enjoy family-friendly activities and refreshments, and learn more about the medical center’s services and community impact.
The hospital is the result of more than a decade of planning and regulatory review, following a 2014 Certificate of Need application. The project gained momentum after Augusta University Health and Wellstar Health System formed a partnership, leading to a 2024 groundbreaking for the hospital and its adjacent 90,000-square-foot medical office building.
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