Northeast Georgia Health System is set to begin a $565-million expansion of its hospital in Braselton, just outside Atlanta. Turner Construction expects to begin the on NGHS's four-year project late this month.

The expansion, which will nearly double the existing capacity, calls for 235,000 sq ft of new clinical space, with two new patient care floors and 150 licensed acute care beds. There will be 20 new emergency department treatment rooms, a second helipad, parking for more than 200 vehicles and expanded pharmacy, laboratory, kitchen and other support facilities.

The health system has also applied to state regulators to add an endovascular operating room for complex vascular and cardiac cases, as well as pre- and post-procedure care areas.

Hospital officials say the facilities are needed to keep pace with growth in the Braselton area. Turner built the original hospital, which opened with 100 beds  in 2015. 

The expansion is one of several major construction efforts the health system has underway. Earlier this year, Brasfield and Gorrie broke ground at the system’s flagship Gainesville campus for a 927,000-sq-ft multistory tower. When completed in 2025, the $700-million expansion will make the Gainesville hospital Georgia’s third-largest by bed count, according to NGHS. The mechanical system will be able to convert patient rooms to negative pressure as needed, a feature incorporated based on experience treating COVID-19 patients.

The expansion will include a ground-floor emergency department with space for pediatric patients; increased space and services for cardiovascular, cranial surgery and neurology patients; additional operating rooms; a parking deck; and extension of an existing garden.

In Lumpkin County, NGHS has begun construction of a new hospital campus on a 57-acre site along State Route 400. Currently scheduled to open in spring 2024, the 66,000-sq-ft building will include 16 private inpatient rooms, 10 emergency treatment rooms, four dedicated observation rooms, three operating rooms and one procedural suite to support orthopedics, sports medicine, general surgery and other services.