Grady to build freestanding ER in south Fulton County [Video]

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. – What’s now a field in Fulton County will soon be home to a new lifesaving resource for those south of Interstate 20.

Grady Memorial Hospital plans to build a freestanding emergency department in partnership with the county.

The department will be located in Union City and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts called the partnership the first step in “providing quality affordable, accessible healthcare to the residents of south Fulton County.”

The new development is meant to help fill a gap and bring relief to what officials call a “healthcare desert.”

The closures of Atlanta Medical Center and Atlanta Medical Center South left the area struggling to handle healthcare needs. Right now, those south of the city must travel up to 40 minutes for lifesaving treatment.

“Union City is smack dab in the middle and decided geographically, that’s where …