Jake Browning
reporter@thefranklinpress.com
By the end of 2022, HCA expects to have completed its replacement hospital for Angel Medical Center.
What’s still up in the air, however, is what will become of the current site.
HCA finalized the $1.5 billion acquisition of Mission Health in February and committed to building a new hospital to replace the aging Angel Medical Center facility. HCA determined that modernizing the current facility was not financially feasible.
The new 86,000-square-foot hospital will be built on 12.89 acres at 14 One Center Court.
HCA has not indicated what it plans to do with the current AMC building.
Macon County commissioners, however, have at least two ideas about what to do with the old hospital. Commissioner Ronnie Beale thinks it would make sense to repurpose the building to focus on mental health services. Beale said there are no hospitals in this part of the state that cater specifically to mental illness, although there are several smaller programs with physical locations, and the change in hospital venues could be Macon County’s opportunity to get ahead of the crowd on offering mental health services.
“That is a hope we have, but there has been no discussions with HCA as far as I know,” Beale said. “There are no facilities in the far west so we would love to see a hospital that serves our most vulnerable citizens.”
Board chair Jim Tate said the building could also become a new location for county offices. The county is looking to expand its administrative spaces in the near future and space for them in downtown Franklin is limited.
The former Kmart building has also been discussed as an option, although that would be a much longer distance from the current offices.
“Last year, the county investigated the possibility of utilizing the old Kmart location for future purposes, but it has gained no traction and has not been discussed in the last four-plus months,” Tate said. “We are patiently watching what is going to happen with the current hospital when the new one is erected, but that is all that I am aware of at this point in regards to future expansion.”
Angel Medical Center will remain in its current location until the fourth quarter of 2020 at the earliest.