EAST POINT, Ga. — The City of East Point is taking a significant step towards improving healthcare access for its more than 200,000 residents.
It's coming after Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center South closed its emergency department in the area over a year ago. Councilmembers in the city say that a year of no emergency services is far too long and that the timeline is "urgent."
"We've had hospitals close in rural Georgia and now it finally trickled up to the metropolitan area," East Point City Councilman Joshua Butler said.
Residents have no way to get unscheduled outpatient care without driving into Downtown Atlanta, where hospitals are already taking care of thousands of people.
"Can you imagine being on 285 at night following your mother who needs desperately to have urgent care and you don't have a place to take her?" Butler asked.
Now, Butler and other leaders voted to create a hospital authority board. The purpose of it is simple -- it will collect private and public money to help close the healthcare gap, Butler explained.
They are asking Wellstar AMC South to reopen and for public and private partnerships to help them build a brand-new hospital.
"When you look at the metropolitan area of Charleston, South Carolina, they have 290,000 people and they have 11 hospitals," Butler said. "We have 200,000 people and not one hospital."
According to leaders, they are already in talks with nearby cities South Fulton and College Park to join the hospital authority board. Butler acknowledges it will require a team to make the necessary progress.
"We have an authority to show that we are serious about bringing the money necessary to have a thriving hospital in our community," Butler said.