Health system withdraws annexation request for hospital in Braselton

That request was slated to be heard by the Braselton Planning Commission for a public hearing on Monday night, but that meeting has now been cancelled. The health system formally withdrew its application on Thursday.

However, a spokesperson for Northeast Georgia Health System said it needs more time to evaluate its needs for the new hospital and its campus — dubbed River Place — in light of recent public feedback.

“The decision not to pursue the annexation application at this time does not jeopardize either the availability of sewer services from the Town of Braselton or the timing of the opening of the hospital or any future medical office buildings on the River Place campus,” said Melissa Tymchuk, a spokesperson for Northeast Georgia Health System.

The Gainesville-based health system plans to open a 100-bed hospital on Thompson Mill Road (Ga. Hwy. 347) in 2015. In recent months, Northeast Georgia has been holding a series of public forums to hear what citizens want on the healthcare campus.

Tymchuk said Hall County, Braselton and the entire South Hall community have been very supportive of the new hospital and more than 600 people have provided comments on the project.

“Due to the high volume of feedback and the complexity of the project, we have determined that we need more planning time to evaluate the system’s needs relative to the new hospital and campus,” she said. “Thus, we have withdrawn our annexation request to the Town of Braselton.”

As part of a 2009 intergovernmental agreement, Braselton is the sewer provider for the new hospital at Northeast Georgia’s property and Hall County can provide sewer service for up to two medical office buildings on the property. Braselton requires that its sewer customers be located in the town limits.

Hall County provides sewer to Medical Plaza 1, the first medical office building on the property, through the its Spout Springs Water Reclamation Facility — a former private wastewater treatment plant that the county purchased in 2008. The facility also serves The Village at Deaton Creek, Reunion and Sterling on the Lake.

The Hall County Board of Commissioners was slated to discuss an intergovernmental agreement with Braselton on Tuesday, but didn’t discuss the proposal when officials learned that the health system planned to withdraw its annexation request.