Stephens Co. Hospital Authority Approves Wilkinson Center Expansion

Stephens County Hospital is moving forward with an expansion to its Wilkinson Center.

On Monday, the Hospital Authority voted unanimously to approve staff to move forward with construction of the expansion at a cost of no more than $900,000.

As part of the motion, the Hospital Authority also voted to build six units instead of the originally planned four additional units.

Hospital Administrator Ed Gambrell said they had a couple of reasons for deciding to build six new units instead of just four.

“The cost of construction will not be that much more and we feel that there is demand,” said Gambrell.

Gambrell went on to say that each of the units will be about 1000 square feet and each house two people comfortably.

“Each unit will have a small kitchen, will have a living room area, a study, which could also function as a separate bedroom, and then it will have a separate bedroom, a walk-in closet, and a patio,” said Gambrell.

Also, Gambrell said that the units will have parking and will connect to the main Wilkinson Center through a heated hallway.

According to Gambrell, construction will start as soon as possible and is expected to take just a few months.

The Wilkinson Center, a retirement living facility on the campus of Stephens County Hospital on Falls Road in Toccoa, currently has 40 units.

Gambrell said that currently between the Wilkinson Center and the Clary Care Center, there are 83 rooms and Stephens County Hospital is licensed to have 92 beds between the two.

He said that the expansion will fall under the current license, but if at some point it was necessary, the hospital would seek a change to the license to allow for more beds.