St. Mary's Health Care System broke ground on a $35 million Center for Heart, Vascular and Neurosciences in Athens, Georgia on Aug. 21. Hospital leaders, physicians and community supporters picked up shovels at the Baxter Street campus for the ceremony.
The 15,000 square foot addition is set to open in October 2027. It's built to handle stroke, heart disease, aneurysms, cancer and women's health under one roof, not just bolted onto the existing building as an afterthought.
What's Actually Going In:
A dedicated electrophysiology lab for treating dangerous heart rhythm disorders
Stroke services with 24/7/365 access to clot removal technology
4D CT imaging paired with interventional radiology, the first setup of its kind in Georgia
That last piece is the real headline. Once it's running, St. Mary's becomes the only comprehensive stroke center in Northeast Georgia, according to SVP Jeff Brown, a distinction the hospital didn't hold before this project.
CEO Stonish Pierce framed the project around a simple point: heart disease and stroke touch nearly everyone eventually.
The project isn't running on hospital funds alone. A $3 million capital campaign is backing the buildout, led by Athens real estate executive Charlie Upchurch. He put the ask in plain terms: funding the building also means funding the staff who'll work in it, calling it a way to help "attract and retain outstanding medical talent."
This center is one piece of a nearly $100 million Trinity Health push across Northeast Georgia, which also includes a new pavilion in Greensboro, expanded MRI services in Athens and upgraded wound care in Lavonia.
The shovels are in the ground. The scanner's already the only one of its kind in the state.
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