As Carol Burrell takes the helm as CEO of Northeast Georgia Medical Center, moving forward on a 100-bed hospital in South Hall is near the top of her to-do list.
"There's a lot of activity going on now," she said Thursday.
Health system officials recently selected a project management firm and soon will send out requests for quotations to architectural firms for the River Place hospital planned in Braselton. By late August or early September, they hope to select an architect.
"We anticipate in fall that we will have our design team identified, between the project management firm, the architectural firm and the general contractor," Burrell said. "And then we'll begin at that point to start designing plans."
This all comes after a yearslong battle with Barrow Regional Medical Center, which operates a 56-bed hospital in Winder, over the need for another hospital in the area. Northeast Georgia Medical was granted the certificate of need late last year.
Officials also will be looking for feedback from residents on what they want in the new hospital. Plans will include an intensive care unit, emergency room and general surgery, but other services have not been determined.
"We've had such great support and such interest with the residents there, and so we will work very closely from a communications standpoint," Burrell said. "And (provide) opportunities and forums for their input into what they're looking for as well. So that's something that you're going to see a lot of activity really ramping up over the next several months and years."
The hospital is also looking to create an efficient facility using what Burrell called "lean principles." The idea is to eliminate unnecessary steps, ease patient flow and increase time spent between the patient and clinical staff.
"We're looking at it beyond a facility. This really is a community, if you will, of health care services," Burrell said. "And how do all those things come together? How do we integrate with the community."
They're also talking with others around the country who have built hospitals in recent years, looking to glean lessons from their experiences, Burrell said.
Another part of the plan is work on Ga. Highway 347. The hospital is working with the Georgia Department of Transportation on those plans, including road realignment and widening to provide better access to the new hospital.
"Our understanding is that that contract will be granted in December, and by February we'll be able to start working with whomever is chosen on the timing and the phasing of that project," Burrell said.
DOT spokeswoman Jill Goldberg confirmed that the contract is anticipated for December but cautioned that plans are still several months out.
Burrell said construction on the hospital could begin in late 2012 or 2013.