HEALTH
FORECAST 2022 41
As the pandemic drags
on, health systems eye
big projects
By: Aleks Gilbert
A novel coronavirus upended the world in
2020. But, as that year drew to a close, there
was hope, in the U.S. at least, the chaos would
soon be over.
In January of 2021, seniors and rst responders
in Georgia were granted access to recently
approved coronavirus vaccines. Come spring,
supply of the vaccines had grown, everyone
was eligible and new cases of the virus were
plummeting. ere was a sense the virus was in
retreat, and sales of facemasks took a nosedive.
e sense of victory was short-lived, though.
In Georgia, cases shot back up toward summer’s
end, as delta, a new, more transmissible
variant, began to spread, doing particular
damage among people who had chosen not to
get vaccinated.
Early fall was particularly stressful for some
in Cobb; on top of the surge in COVID-19, a
stando between Wellstar Health System and
insurer UnitedHealthcare le thousands of
patients in limbo, as a contract between the two
companies ended.
e primary commercial contract’s lapse
meant that, in UHC’s view, Wellstar was no
longer in-network for members of its employer
sponsored and individual plans, as well as
the Veteran Aairs Community Care Network.
e two companies engaged in a public relations
war over the contract negotiations, with
both sides accusing the other of placing money
over patients.
UHC has called Wellstar hospitals the most
expensive in metro Atlanta and said the system
wants to increase rates so dramatically that it
would increase healthcare costs by $75 million
over one year. Wellstar, meanwhile, has pointed
out its non-prot status, cited data indicating
UHC was untrusted by patients and said that
UHC is choosing “prots over patients.”
But Wellstar also had good news to announce
last year.
Construction began in November on a new,
seven-story, $263-million tower on Kennestone
Hospital’s existing campus.
e tower will add 61 acute-care beds to the
hospital, which currently has 633 beds. e
tower will also include 67 beds relocated from
elsewhere in the hospital.
“e new tower will provide necessary
space for additional patient beds and services,
including neonatal care for our youngest patients
and medical care for adult patients and
families,” Mary Chatman, president of Kennestone
and Wellstar’s Windy Hill Hospital, said.
“In addition, we will expand the number of
private rooms in response to the voice of our
community and people we provide care for.”
Dr. Danny Branstetter,
Wellstar Health System’s
director of infection
prevention, speaks at a
news conference in August.
- Chart Riggall
continued on page 44