Stephens Co. Hospital Considering Wilkinson Center Addition

Stephens County Hospital is looking at possibly expanding its Wilkinson Center.

The Hospital Authority’s Building and Grounds Committee met Thursday to talk about the idea.

Hospital Administrator Ed Gambrell said there is enough demand to at least look into what would be a fairly small addition.

“This would be a small addition that would potentially add probably four, not more six, larger units to the facility,” said Gambrell. “There seems to be some larger demand for the larger apartment-type unit, so we are looking at that and the feasibility of it right now.”

According to the Stephens County Hospital website, the Wilkinson Center is a 40-unit retirement living facility.

Gambrell said 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.

As a result, Gambrell said that means the possible addition at Wilkinson would fall under the current license that the hospital has.

Gambrell said that a final decision has not been made on whether to move forward with such a project.

He said the hospital will continue to study it before bringing it to the full Authority for its consideration.

“We are going to complete a sketch of the building that we want to build,” said Gambrell. “We would get bids from local sub-contractors to determine what the total cost would be and that would help us determine whether it is feasible or not.”

Gambrell said he would expect a decision on whether to pursue an addition in a couple of months, probably in the Spring.