Wellstar Health System acquires 12th hospital, prepares to open another

The Wellstar Health System now includes a dozen hospitals.

On Monday, the Georgia-based system announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Mountain Lakes Medical Center. The facility is the 12th hospital in the Wellstar Health System.

A 25-bed critical access hospital with a Level IV Trauma Center, Mountain Lakes serves Rabun County and surrounding communities in northeast Georgia.

The hospital will now be known as Wellstar Mountain Lakes Medical Center. Financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.

Ketul J. Patel, president and CEO of Wellstar, said the health system looks to offer expanded services.

“From our earliest conversations, it was clear that Mountain Lakes Medical Center was a special organization with a talented team, deep community roots and tremendous potential,” Patel said in a statement. “Completing this acquisition marks an important milestone in our shared commitment to build on the hospital’s strong foundation and create new possibilities for patients, clinicians and communities in the region.”

The move also reflects Wellstar’s efforts to expand its footprint in Georgia.

“At Wellstar, we’re building a connected healthcare ecosystem that links community hospitals, physicians, specialists, advanced clinical programs and digital capabilities into a seamless experience for patients,” Patel said in a news release. “The Mountain Lakes team has an important role to play in that future.”

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The medical center’s patients will still be able to see their doctors and care teams. Eventually, as Mountain Lakes is integrated into the system, patients will be able to take advantage of more clinical programs. Mountain Lakes clinicians will also be able to connect with Wellstar’s specialists via the system’s Digital Care Network.

Even as Wellstar completes the acquisition of Mountain Lakes, the Georgia system is preparing to open a new hospital.

WellStar is slated to open the new Wellstar Columbia County Medical Center on Aug. 26. The six-story medical center includes 100 beds and is in Grovetown, just outside August. The system has been showing off the new facility in recent days, including an open house for the public that took place over the weekend.

In addition to offering more healthcare services, Wellstar says the new hospital will provide more educational opportunities for students at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

The Columbia County Medical Center campus also includes an office building with 11 outpatient clinics. The medical office building is under construction and expected to open in the fall.

While Wellstar has acquired another hospital and plans to open another, the health system has also reduced its workforce. In late July, the health system announced job cuts affecting 761 staff, which represents about 2% of Wellstar’s workforce of 35,000, CBS News Atlanta and other Georgia media reported.

Wellstar said the layoffs included corporate, administrative and shared service roles but did not affect care teams, including physicians and nurses.

"Our mission has not changed, and our patients will continue to receive the same compassionate, high-quality care they expect," Wellstar said in a statement.