UNION CITY, Ga. — Grady Hospital has been approved to build a free-standing emergency department in South Fulton on Tuesday.
The latest emergency department will be in Union City and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. According to a statement, the department will have an entire staff of physicians, nurses and other clinicians.
It will open in the fall of 2026 and will be built in partnership with Fulton County.
"We are pleased that our certificate of need to build a freestanding emergency department in south Fulton County has been approved," officials said in a statement.
The ER's approval comes years after Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center closed, leaving a hole in healthcare for the South Fulton community. Although the new department will be over a dozen miles from the former site, it will still give South Fulton residents access to emergency care.
AMC and Grady Hospital were the only two level 1 trauma centers in the area.
Soon after Wellstar closed, Grady Hospital saw an influx of trauma patients. For months, the city approved a moratorium, which halted any development or projects unrelated to healthcare for the site.
The City of Atlanta placed a zoning moratorium on the property in 2022 and renewed it three times, most recently in June 2024. However, that moratorium expired in October of this year.
The city eventually conceded, allowing Wellstar to continue its plans for redevelopment, which will include affordable housing, residential properties, green space, neighborhood retail, new street access, and health resources.
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