News Releases

February 9, 2006
$225 Million Dollar Expansion Planned for West Georgia Health System

LaGrange, GA—West Georgia Health System is embarking upon a 10-year multiphase construction project that will change the face of health care in LaGrange and Troup County.  The first phase of the project, which is slated to break ground in early 2007, will include a new emergency department, front entrance, mother-baby unit, intensive care unit and updated cardiology services.            

“For the past 18 months, West Georgia Health System has been looking to the future, formulating a master plan that will take our health system to a higher level,” says WGHS President/CEO Jerry Fulks. “We recently completed our schematic design phase, and we are currently working on design development. The total project, which we estimate will cost around $225 million, will be the most complex and comprehensive construction effort in our organization’s history and is proof positive that we are taking action to ensure the future well-being of our community.” The first phase of construction is projected to cost about $60 million.

West Georgia Health System has selected the companies that will serve as program manager, construction manager, and architect to oversee pre-construction planning for the hospital’s major expansion and renovation project. KLMK Group will serve as program managers; McCarthy Building Companies as construction managers and Ellerbe Becket as architects for the project.

If the WGHS Board of Trustees chooses to proceed with the project at the end of the design development phase, the board will extend its contracts with the construction team to oversee the construction phase as well as approve a guaranteed maximum expenditure for the project. At that point, WGHS will submit a Certificate of Need application to the Department of Community Health and develop a financing package for the first phase of construction. Groundbreaking is scheduled for early Spring 2007 with construction expected to be completed in late 2009.

The second phase of construction will include a six-story north tower for all patient rooms or a two-story building for expanded surgical and consolidated radiology operations. The newly formed West Georgia Health System Foundation has raised $3.13 million of its $5 million goal to help build the new emergency department, which will have 31 beds compared to the current 11.