Northside Gwinnett Needs New Tower To Handle County's Growth

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — Northside Hospital Gwinnett needs a $400 million expansion simply because it’s become too crowded, according to a state filing last week by the facility’s parent company.

Last month, Northside Hospital filed a letter of intent with the Georgia Department of Community Health to build a 10-story patient tower at its Lawrenceville facility, the largest hospital in Gwinnett. A second filing on June 2 reported by Atlanta Business Chronicle explains why.

Northside Hospital Gwinnett’s “inpatient utilization” — essentially, its occupancy — has hovered between 80 and 85 percent over the last few years, according to the filing as reported by the Chronicle. Ideally, inpatient utilization for a teaching hospital should be 70 percent.

If approved, the expansion tower will include more than 400,000 square feet of new construction and boost NHG from 388 beds to 520 beds. Hospital management predicts also that the expansion would add the equivalent of 624 full-time jobs.

The project must first be approved by state regulators.

Read the story in Atlanta Business Chronicle.

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