Huge crowd shows up for sneak peek at new hospital

BRASELTON - The official opening of Northeast Georgia Medical Center-Braselton doesn't happen until Wednesday, but the hospital held an open house for the community Sunday, and thousands of people showed up to see the new facility.

NGMC-Braselton President Anthony Williamson stationed himself in the rotunda of the new hospital to greet visitors. He said he shook a lot of hands during the course of the afternoon.

"It's a great response we're having from the community today," said Williamson. "It's hard to anticipate how many folks will come out to an event like this. We were planning for somewhere in the range of 2,500 or 3,000, but it looks to me that we've exceeded that."

Williamson said the comments were nothing but positive from the people who had toured the new 100-bed facility on Friendship Road.

"Everybody is really pleased that the Braselton area is going to have a hospital to call their own," said Williamson. "I've heard a lot of comments, you know, about just how nice it's going to be to have a hospital here with an emergency room that can take care of the community in their own neighborhood."

Among the residents who showed up for the self-guided tour was Randy Goff, who said he had undergone treatment for a heart attack in October 2014 at Ronnie Green Heart Center at NGMC-Gainesville. He said having the Braselton hospital close to his home was a plus.

"It is very comforting to know that it's this close to me. It's not but about two miles from home to here, so it would be very quick to get here," said Goff.

Goff and his wife stopped to get information on the patient rooms, and he said he was impressed with the advanced technology the nurses would have at their fingertips inside each room.

Edna Gillespie, a nurse by profession, was another visitor who make the short trek to the Braselton campus from her home in Gainesville.

"The reason I came is because I wanted to see what kind of facility that Northeast Georgia was opening here because I know this is an area where they [the public] needed help," said Gillespie.

She gave kudos to the Heart Center at the new hospital, noting that she was impressed there would be two cardiologists on staff.

Visitors also had a chance to get samples from the hospital cafeteria, Cafe 1400, and they also were able to look inside ambulances and fire trucks in the "Touch an Emergency Vehicle Zone."

NGMC-Braselton officially opens for patients at 7 a.m. Wednesday.