FULTON COUNTY, GA. – What is now a field in Fulton County will soon be home to a vital new resource for people 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 toward “providing quality, affordable and accessible health care to residents of south Fulton County.”

This new development aims to fill a gap and provide relief to what officials call a “health care desert.”

The closures of Atlanta Medical Center and South Atlanta Medical Center have left the region facing challenges in meeting health care needs. Currently, residents in the south of the city have to travel up to 40 minutes to receive life-saving treatment.

The site of the future emergency department.

“Union City is right in the middle and geographically, that’s where this emergency department needed to be,” said John Haupert, president and CEO of Grady Health System.

The 20,000-square-foot emergency room will have 16 stations staffed by doctors, nurses and other certified clinicians ready to help with serious or life-threatening conditions.

The building will also offer imaging services, laboratory services, a pharmacy and more.

Funding for the campus will come from Fulton County and the federal government.

“The dream and need exists for an independent hospital in south Fulton County, but this is a major step in the right direction,” Pitts said.

The main difference between a stand-alone emergency and a hospital emergency is what happens if the staff has to admit you to the hospital. A hospital emergency department has direct access to inpatient admissions. In a stand-alone emergency room, an ambulance or helicopter will need to transport you to the hospital.

Construction on the free-standing emergency department is expected to begin this fall, with an anticipated opening date of 2026.