A Story of Vision

It all began on February 20, 1919, when Drs. Goss, Holliday, Hunnicutt and Reynolds met at the old Crawford W. Long Infirmary on The University of Georgia campus to discuss the need for a community hospital in Clarke County. The physicians decided to open a temporary facility while the hospital was being built. Funds for the $280,000 were raised through subscriptions or shares which were purchased by members of the community. In 1921, the 100 bed hospital, featuring three medical floors, two operating rooms, a delivery room and a 24 member medical staff, opened its doors to northeast Georgia and paved the way for a bright future of high quality health care in our community.

A Story of Commitment

The burden of operating the hospital by a limited number of citizens became impractical; therefore, on October 17, 1924, the citizens of Clarke County overwhelmingly approved a $200,000 bond referendum to purchase the facility.

Max Michael, a local attorney, chaired the newly formed 16 member Board of Trustees, which met for the first time on January 13, 1925. Miss Agnes McGinley was named Superintendent or Administrator. Years later, on September 30, 1960, the Hospital Authority of Clarke County, with a nine-member board, assumed ownership of the facility.

A Story of Growth

Since the first cornerstone was laid more than 75 years ago, the hospital has continuously expanded to meet the growing health care needs of our community. Athens Regional Medical Center has developed into a 315 bed referral center serving the northeast Georgia area. As a full service health care facility, Athens Regional provides the community a vast array of specialized medical, surgical and diagnostic procedures.

The Medical Center offers the community a vast array of services that make it one of the most sophisticated facilities in northeast Georgia. Included are: open heart; midwifery services; a free-standing substance abuse treatment center; a heart catheterization laboratory; rehabilitation services; a lab outreach facility; a neonatal intensive care unit; an outpatient surgery center; a free-standing outpatient radiology center; a diagnostic and therapeutic oncology unit; laser surgery; lithotripsy; Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI); a 24 bed Intensive Care Unit; a diabetes education program; a neurosurgery unit and more. In addition, ARMC recognizes its commitment to business and industry in the community through a unique program entitled HealthSense - an unlimited, economical resource to better health.

Dedication ceremonies were held in May, 1996, for ARMC's South Tower addition, the hospital's three year, $51 million renovation and construction program, which has been described as one of the largest construction projects in Athens-Clarke County history.

The five-story, 250,950 square foot addition houses a variety of services and new facilities, including all private patient rooms and state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. A new Psychiatry area, new Cardiovascular Intensive Care and Cardiac Intensive Care units, consolidated outpatient registration services, expanded diabetes education program, a new materials management and sterile supply department, a pediatric unit featuring outpatient services, a new surgical suite, modern dietary and food preparation areas and an employee cafeteria are all part of the new South Tower.

A pedestrian skywalk over Talmadge Drive links the second floor of the South Tower addition to the third level of the parking deck providing convenient access for patients, visitors, staff and physicians.

Other major projects ongoing at Athens Regional include The Guest House, a facility for families of critically ill and injured patients. This 16 unit 'home away from home' opened in September, 1996. The addition of a new parking deck alleviated the intense parking frustrations which had existed for patients, visitors and employees alike.

A Story of Touching People's Lives

As one of the area's largest and fastest growing health care institutions, Athens Regional Medical Center does not measure its success by the flourishing size of the hospital complex or the accumulations of state-of-the-art technology. Rather, people are the measure of Athens Regional's success. People, such as a pediatric nurse reassuring a frightened child before surgery ... people, such as the chaplain comforting the family who has just learned of their loved one's illness ... people, such as the social worker making aftercare arrangements for the elderly patient. The jobs and faces of these 2,000 employees vary. Yet their spirit and dedication to meet the daily demands the health care profession requires are extraordinary.

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