Atrium Health, Morehouse School of Medicine Plan $700M Teaching Hospital in Atlanta

The planned hospital is expected to open with approximately 50 beds and expand to more than 700 beds as community needs grow.

Atrium Health and Morehouse School of Medicine have received approval to move forward with plans for a new teaching hospital at 675 Metropolitan Parkway SW, with Atrium Health committing more than $700 million in capital and clinical investment to the hospital and an expanded care network across Central and South Fulton County.

The planned hospital is expected to open with approximately 50 beds and expand to more than 700 beds as community needs grow. It will include a 24/7 emergency department, a Level III trauma center, obstetrics and neonatal intensive care, adult critical care, advanced imaging, cardiac catheterization, interventional radiology, and endoscopy.

The project follows the closures of Atlanta Medical Center and Atlanta Medical Center South in 2022, which left communities in South and West Atlanta with reduced access to hospital and emergency services.

The broader network will include primary care practices, combined primary and urgent care locations, specialty services, virtual and community-based care, and a healthplex offering imaging, infusion, endoscopy and emergency services. The organizations also plan to expand Hospital at Home services for eligible patients requiring acute-level care.

According to an analysis by 3D Health, Fulton County has a shortage of nearly 246 primary care providers. A separate assessment by Fulton County and Morehouse School of Medicine, conducted with Ernst & Young, identified areas with limited access to health services. Planned ambulatory sites will use federal service-area need methodology and the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index to identify locations near vulnerable communities.

The project is also expected to generate economic activity. An HR&A Advisors analysis estimates approximately 5,400 construction jobs and 4,800 permanent direct, indirect and induced positions at maturity, including about 1,000 new health system employees and 150 care providers. The full campus and network are projected to have an annual economic impact of approximately $1.25 billion once operational.

The City of Atlanta is expected to invest more than $115 million toward site preparation, roadway and pedestrian improvements, and equipment related to the acute-care campus.

The plans remain contingent on agreements with Fulton County regarding support for Morehouse School of Medicine’s ambulatory network. The hospital and care network are being designed as an integrated system with shared information systems and care protocols.

Morehouse Healthcare, Fulton County and Atrium Health previously partnered to establish the Morehouse Healthcare East Point clinic, which provides primary and specialty care in South Fulton.

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