Northside Hospital Gwinnett Expands Emergency Department and Plans New Patient Tower

Northside Hospital Gwinnett has completed a major expansion of its emergency department, begun work on a new patient tower, and is deepening its community partnerships.

On Oct. 18, 2021, Northside Hospital Gwinnett cut the ribbon on its newly expanded emergency department in Lawrenceville. The hospital’s emergency department consistently ranks among the highest volume facilities in Georgia, with more than 100,000 visits annually. It also recently received approval from the Georgia Department of Community Health to build a 10-story, 162-inpatient bed tower, which will be located on the Northside Gwinnett campus.

“Northside believes that access to care is of the utmost importance and realized that a county with close to a million residents needed a bigger emergency department footprint,” says Debbie Mitcham, president and CEO of Northside Hospital in Gwinnett and Duluth. “With the completion of this project, emergency room capacity will double, thus increasing the ability to not only take care of more Gwinnett County residents, but take care of them more efficiently.”

Mitcham said that plans for the patient tower and bed additions also include a five-story, 143,828-square-foot medical office building to house outpatient imaging, ambulatory surgery and a variety of physician practices. The project site preparation has begun – completion is expected in 2023.

The expanded emergency department has a completely redesigned trauma area to address access and patient flow challenges, as well as a two-story addition with more exam rooms and observation beds. Work already is underway on the second phase, which is a renovation of the original emergency facilities.

The health system is also broadening its community partnership programs with many of the region’s non-profit organizations and events. On Oct. 23, Northside will serve as the presenting sponsor of Paint Gwinnett Pink, the largest breast cancer 5K in Gwinnett County. This year’s virtual event has already raised nearly $900,000 toward the purchase of new 3D mammography for the Breast Care Centers at Northside Gwinnett and Northside Duluth.