HCA Healthcare has postponed construction of the replacement facility for Angel Medical Center until 2021.
“Between state plan approval and the COVID-19 pandemic, groundbreaking on the new hospital is unfortunately delayed,” Angel CEO Karen Gorby said.” We are continuing to prepare and looking forward to a spring of 2021 groundbreaking, but unprecedented world events may cause that to change again.”
HCA acquired property for the replacement hospital at One Center Court in November 2019. Groundbreaking was expected to begin late this year with opening of the $68 million hospital anticipated in 2022.
Franklin Town Council voted unanimously to approve the special use permit for HCA’s replacement hospital in September 2019.
The new facility is designed to be more efficient and patient-friendly.
“In the very beginning, we looked at all the data linked to what the projections would be five years out,” Gorby said previously. “We saw that the area of growth was in [people] 65 and older.”
With that senior population in mind, the new hospital is designed to enhance mobility with an emphasis on easy access. The current hospital can be difficult to navigate.
Current patient rooms are about 60 percent of the size they should be, Gorby said. Larger rooms will make it easier to accommodate families and will allow staff more space in which to work.
HCA has not provided plans on what will happen to the current hospital.