The former athletic club at Wellstar’s Atlanta Medical Center will become a temporary emergency shelter for unhoused residents, according to a report by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The shelter will offer people wrap-around services including housing and medical care, Mayor Andre Dickens told ABC. Their stay will only be temporary before moving to more permanent housing.

The city last week signed a 180-day agreement with Wellstar to use the athletic club as a shelter, according to the report. The building is located at the intersection of Parkway and Highland drives.

Wellstar closed Atlanta Medical Center in November 2022. The health system company said at the time it was forced to close the 460-bed hospital after losing more than $100 million.

Originally known as Georgia Baptist Hospital, the hospital had been a fixture in Atlanta for more than a century and located in Old Fourth Ward since 1921. 

Since its closure, the buildings spanning Atlanta Medical Center’s 25-acre campus have been vacant. Dickens has issued numerous executive orders, approved by the City Council, banning redevelopment of the site. He has said he wants to make sure any new development on the property includes healthcare facilities.

Dickens told ABC the city is still “in negotiations and conversations” with Wellstar about its plans to sell the hospital. A smaller hospital could anchor a mixed-use development with housing and doctor’s office, he said.

This story comes to GPB through a partnership with Rough Draft Atlanta.

Tags: Atlanta Medical Center  unhoused  shelter  Atlanta  Georgia  Homeless  health