Morehouse School of Medicine, Atrium Health plan new teaching hospital in southwest Atlanta

A new teaching hospital planned for southwest Atlanta could bring emergency, specialty and primary care closer to communities where some residents say accessing health care has become increasingly difficult since the closures of Atlanta Medical Center and Atlanta Medical Center South.

Morehouse School of Medicine and Atrium Health have received state approval to move forward with the hospital planned for 675 Metropolitan Parkway SW. Atrium Health has committed more than $700 million toward the hospital and a broader network of health care services.

The hospital is expected to initially have about 50 beds, with the capacity to eventually expand beyond 700. Plans call for 24-hour emergency care, Level III trauma services, obstetrics, neonatal intensive care, adult critical care, advanced imaging and cardiac catheterization. The broader network is expected to include primary, urgent and specialty care.

For longtime Southwest Atlanta resident Terry Ross, the project is about more than a new building.

Ross has lived in the community for about 18 years. His youngest child was born at Atlanta Medical Center nearly 25 years ago, and he said his neurologist and cardiologist also practiced there.

"When the hospital was here, my youngest child was actually born in Atlanta Medical Center," Ross said. "We knew the care, we knew the care team, the specialists there."

Atlanta Medical Center and Atlanta Medical Center South both closed in 2022. Ross said the loss of specialists at Atlanta Medical Center forced him to find doctors elsewhere.

"What changed was the removal of the specialists that were at Atlanta Medical Center," Ross said. "That's where my neurologists and cardiologists were. And so it was a search for other specialists that could give me the same form of care."

Ross said some trips to see specialists now take him across Atlanta or even outside the county.

"Depending on Atlanta traffic, it could be anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half," Ross said. "For a three-hour round trip for a one-hour, two-hour visit, it is extremely inconvenient."

He said some medical appointments can consume four or five hours of his day when travel and the visit itself are combined.

The challenge extends beyond Ross' experience. Atrium Health cited an analysis by health care consulting firm 3D Health that found Fulton County has a shortage of nearly 246 primary care providers.

Ross said bringing specialists closer to southwest Atlanta is particularly important.

"Me personally, it would be the specialists," Ross said. "Having them here in the area is a necessity."

He said proximity could make a significant difference for residents trying to determine what is wrong when they become sick.

"Having that in close proximity would be a huge help in addressing the disparities in this community," Ross said.

The proposed hospital would also serve as a teaching facility for Morehouse School of Medicine. The partnership is intended to expand the pipeline of physicians and other health professionals while increasing access to care in the region.

The hospital is envisioned as the centerpiece of a larger health care network. Atrium Health said the plans include outpatient and specialty services designed to give patients alternatives to relying on emergency departments for routine care.

Ross said he hopes the project ultimately brings both hospital care and medical offices into the community.

"What I hope next is that Morehouse is able to man and staff a hospital here in the community," Ross said, along with "surrounding clinics and specialist medical offices so that the community can be cared for."

For Ross, the stakes are straightforward.

"Healthy members make healthy communities," he said. "Healthy communities make healthy cities."

A construction start date and opening date have not been publicly announced. Atrium Health has also said portions of the broader plan remain contingent on agreements with Fulton County regarding support for Morehouse Medicine's ambulatory care network.