Augusta, Ga. (May 15, 2024) – Community leaders and elected officials joined Piedmont Augusta team members today to snip a celebratory ribbon in honor of the Summerville Campus reopening.
Beginning May 16 at 7 a.m., Piedmont Augusta’s Summerville Campus will once again offer Emergency Department and inpatient services at its 2260 Wrightsboro Road location, more than a year after closing its ED and converting to an all-outpatient campus.
“Today is a perfect example of the commitment by Piedmont, the largest and highest-quality health care system in the state, to keep healthcare local,” said Hugh Hamilton, Chair of the Richmond County Hospital Authority and the Piedmont Augusta Board. “This is a very exciting day for Piedmont Augusta, but also for many Augustans who were raised with this hospital as a reliable healthcare mainstay. I fit into both categories, so I’m genuinely happy and proud we have brought this reopening to fruition. This is a true win for our community.”
Services will initially include a 24-hour, 15-bed Emergency Department, a 12-bed inpatient unit and enhanced imaging services. Outpatient services to continue will be a renovated Occupational Medicine suite, Wound & Hyperbaric Services, Diabetes Services, Laboratory, Coumadin Clinic, Piedmont Primary Care and Piedmont Heart in the Summerville Medical Building.
“From every perspective, reopening Summerville and making it better than ever, is in perfect alignment with Piedmont’s promise, vision and values,” said Piedmont CEO Lily Henson, M.D.
“Piedmont’s model is to provide comprehensive care close to home. Reopening Summerville allows us to offer greater access to convenient, seamless, hassle-free care to nearby residents. The Piedmont Promise is to make a positive difference in every life we touch, and we realize having this campus open will allow for a more positive healthcare experience for many patients.”
While word circulated throughout the community about the Summerville Campus reopening, Dr. Henson said members of the community have approached her and asked which Emergency Room they should now rely upon.
“My answer to that, is if you believe you are experiencing a true medical emergency, go to the Piedmont Emergency Department closest to you,” Henson explained. “If you choose Summerville, and you need services we are better equipped to deliver on main campus, there will be a Piedmont ambulance on site 24-hours a day, under contract with Central EMS, to transport you immediately.”
The campus is also home to Augusta Technical College’s School of Allied Health, which educates and trains students to become nurses and to fill other clinical roles through a partnership with Piedmont.
The former 231-bed Trinity Hospital became part of the then-University Health Care System in Augusta in 2017. The agreement preserved a valued community asset with an excellent reputation of caring for patients, while giving the system the additional space to meet the demand for services. While Piedmont Augusta’s Walton Way campus is nearing the limits at which additional capacity can be cost effectively added, the Summerville campus provided the land and building space to accommodate growth.
In December 2020, Piedmont closed the Summerville Campus Emergency Department and quickly converted the entire hospital into isolation beds to care for the vast majority of this community’s COVID-19 inpatients. When the COVID-19 inpatient numbers declined, patients and staff transferred back to main campus and Summerville was maintained as an outpatient campus.
“A smaller campus like Summerville allows us to excel in championing patient-centered care, a value we take very seriously,” Dr. Henson said. “Reopening this campus demonstrates how Piedmont exemplifies teamwork and connections, encourages ownership and embraces the future. At a time when hospitals across the state and country continue to close, Piedmont is dedicated to serving the needs of this community.”