Angel Medical Center on Riverview Street closed its doors the morning of Sept. 18 and began accepting patients at the new $68 million facility located at 124 One Center Court.
Using ambulances from Macon County Emergency Services, the hospital began moving patients to the new facility Sunday morning. “The move went exceptionally well. Thanks to the amazing teamwork between Angel Medical Center, Macon County EMS and the Town of Franklin we were able to move all the patients over to the new hospital in 1 hour 15 minutes,” said Angel CEO Clint Kendall.
He commended the EMS workers for their assistance. “They made the move seamless. They staged their trucks and teams in one of our parking lots and as soon as one truck left the pick-up area, another came in behind them for the next patient. Their organization and efforts were instrumental in our successful move.”
The emergency room at the new hospital opened at 6 a.m. and the first patient checked into the ER at 6:01 a.m. The first day open, the emergency department saw 62 patients. As of Tuesday, there were 16 patients in the inpatient unit.
Kendall said they are still waiting on a few pieces of new equipment to arrive. The medical equipment not moved to the new facility will be donated or repurposed to other HCA-Mission regional facilities.
“On behalf of Mission Health and HCA Healthcare, I want to thank everyone for the countless number of hours that have been spent making the new Angel Medical Center project a reality. We are proud to be here to celebrate a true investment in rural healthcare and in the Franklin community,” said Greg Lowe, president, HCA Healthcare North Carolina Division at the ribbon cutting held Sept. 13.
HCA officials say the new 82,500-square-foot hospital “builds on HCA Healthcare’s commitment to the town of Franklin and continues the current clinical offerings while enhancing and developing additional services based on the community’s future needs.”
The new hospital offers up-to-date clinical services and integrates the latest wireless technology. The facility includes three operating rooms, an endoscopy suite, and a 17-bed emergency department.
The new, larger patient rooms were designed with comfort in mind. The inpatient unit has a 30-bed capacity with five acuity adaptable beds, 20 medical surgical beds, and five observation beds.
“When you look around our region and across our nation you will see areas where communities are suffering due to the lack of adequate medical facilities. We here in Franklin are very fortunate and extremely grateful to our Angel Medical Center Board of Trustees and Mission Health for the foresight in making this amazing investment in our community. I honestly can’t think of another location comparable to Franklin that can boast of a new 82,500-square-foot hospital with an investment of more than $73 million dollars,” said Franklin Mayor Jack Horton.
The new location also will include a heliport for MAMA (Mountain Area Medical Airlift). Construction on the $4.6 million heliport will begin this fall with work to be completed by early 2023. The new heliport will house both the MAMA crew and MAMA 2 helicopter.
HCA-Mission Health has offered the former hospital on Riverview Street to the Town of Franklin with the stipulation that the use of the building cannot compete with any services the hospital offers. Town Manager Amie Owens said the town has received a $267,500 grant from Dogwood Trust to conduct a feasibility study on the property. One of the possible uses being considered is converting the building into a senior living facility, but it will depend on the study results. Owens said they hope to start the feasibility study before the end of the year.