Employees of Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center left their mark on a multi-year master expansion project currently underway at the Athens, Georgia healthcare facility earlier this month. Piedmont Athens Regional staff members signed two steel beams days before they were hoisted into place signifying the first phase of the expansion—a fourth-floor addition of the Prince Tower Two—one of several towers on Piedmont Athens Regional’s campus.

In 2016, Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare acquired the 359-bed acute care hospital and has announced a phased master plan to expand services and amenities for the growing local community and the 17-county regional area surrounding Athens. Piedmont Athens Regional is home of Piedmont Healthcare’s east hub of services, which includes three other hospitals. Scheduled for completion in 2022, the master plan project includes:

• 230,000 sq. ft. of new construction and 150,000 sq. ft of renovated space
• Demolition of a four-story tower and replacement with a six-story, 64-bed patient tower
• Multiple interior renovations to accommodate current capacity for the Prince Tower One, which is set to be demolished
• Addition of a fourth floor to the three-story Prince Tower Two

With a main objective of improving delivery of patient care and operational efficiency, the project will also improve both vehicular and pedestrian circulation around the campus and simplify patient arrival, wayfinding and access.

Before the beams were elevated atop the existing Prince Tower Two, construction partners and Piedmont Athens Regional employees, including Executive Director of Operations, Diane Todd, and Piedmont Athens Regional President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Charles Peck, came together to celebrate the monumental occasion. “Our mission, ‘to improve the lives and health of those we touch remains the same,” said Dr. Peck. “The opportunity to reach and care for more members of the Athens community is why today is such a significant first step for our future.”

This is the fifth project DPR has executed for Piedmont Healthcare in the Atlanta area and the organization's first project for Piedmont Athens Regional. DPR is no stranger to the Athens community, however, as the team recently completed enhancements to the University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium—the 10th largest football facility in the country. Integral to the success of Piedmont Athens Regional’s expansion include DPR’s project partners: program consultant, BDR, and architect of record, SmithGroupJJR and Trinity Health Group Architects.