A second free-standing emergency room is coming to North Augusta. It is being built in the parking lot in front of a shopping center housing businesses that offer a good amount of physical activity.
The E.R. will be built near where Spatter Place and the Family Y of North Augusta are on W. Martintown Road. That’s the North Hills Shopping Center.
Aiken Regional Medical Centers (ARMC) is developing it. The hospital has a similar existing facility, the ER at Sweetwater. It opened three years ago at 160 Austin Graybill Road. That’s off Interstate 20, exit five.
Elisha Ford, Director of the ER at Sweetwater, was among the speakers at the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce’s October 9th Good Morning North Augusta breakfast. She said the hospital believed there was a need to bring a free-standing ER to the west side of the city.
“It’s a way for people to access full emergency services without having to go into the city or having to drive 30 minutes out of the way into a major hospital,” she said. “That’s really the point of freestanding, is to get that easier access and closer community access to services for people who can’t travel into the city to go get it.”
Ford said the new facility will have the same full-service medical options that are available at the ER at Sweetwater.
“We offer all the same services. We’ve got radiology and imaging labs. If you need to be admitted, we transport you to the hospital,” she said, adding that patients can be transported to their hospital of choice. “Most of our ER cases can be taken care of in-house. We end up transporting about 5% of our patients. We also service outpatient behavior, outpatient imaging, and lab work as well.”
Residential construction is expanding on the city’s west side, and The Hive, a multi-use project, is under construction at I-20 exit one.
Councilman John Felak told ABD that building a medical facility closer to that area is a benefit for the city as the population continues to grow.
“It’s one of those businesses you don’t need until you need it, and when you need it, you need it immediately,” he said. “I’m sure the hospitals have done their studies as to the need in the community. It’s in a great location for us. There’s a whole different population of people that are very, very close to that spot. To have Aiken Regional take an interest in North Augusta with this facility, I see it as a big plus for us.”
Ford said this area is still learning the benefits of freestanding ERs, which are relatively new.
“That’s why we try to get the information out,” she explained. “Not a lot of people understand it, especially in this area. They’re fairly new, but you’ll start seeing more and more of them throughout the United States. They’re opening very quickly because it’s just great for the community.”
In addition to ARMC’s existing freestanding ER and the one under construction, Piedmont Hospital has two prompt care/primary care facilities in North Augusta. One is on Edgefield Road at exit five. The other is on E. Buena Vista Avenue at Georgia Avenue. Doctors Hospital staffs a similar facility on Knox Avenue.
