UPDATE: Peach Regional Medical Center to get long-awaited new hospital

FORT VALLEY — The long-awaited new Peach Regional Medical Center will be built as a result of a partnership between the hospital and Macon-based Central Georgia Health System and The Medical Center of Central Georgia.

Peach hospital officials have been talking about building a new hospital since 2003, but the project never came to fruition, mostly due to the economic downturn, said Nancy Peed, chief executive officer of Peach Regional Medical Center.

About a year ago, she approached Don Faulk, president and chief executive officer of Central Georgia Health System and The Medical Center of Central Georgia, about the feasibility of a partnership. The pair announced the partnership at Peach Regional Medical Center Thursday.

“I think it is a very natural partnership,” Faulk said, noting a working relationship with Peach Regional for more than 20 years. “Partnerships like this are going to be essential in surviving an uncertain future in health care.”

Central Georgia Health System and The Medical Center will assist in financing the new hospital by using their institutional stability and standing as leverage in obtaining a loan with a low interest rate, Faulk said.

The project is estimated to cost about $28 million, Peed said. Construction could begin at the site on the Ga. 247 Connector in early fall, Faulk said.

The new hospital will provide Peach Regional larger and more modern facilities as well as the ability to attract more doctors and offer more procedures, Peed said.

Peach Regional currently sees about 16,000 patients a year, she said.

For more on this story, come back to macon.com and read Friday’s Telegraph.

This story was originally published June 9, 2011 at 10:26 AM with the headline "UPDATE: Peach Regional Medical Center to get long-awaited new hospital."