ATLANTA, Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Piedmont, Georgia’s leading health system, has filed a Letter of Determination with the Georgia Department of Community Health to build a relocation hospital for Piedmont Newton Hospital, located in Covington Ga., at a cost of nearly $600 million, all of which will be borne by Piedmont.

This will be the second-largest capital project in the organization’s history, after the Marcus Tower opened on its Piedmont Atlanta Hospital campus in 2020. In addition to this project, Piedmont has invested nearly $2 billion into expansion projects in the communities it serves over the past five years.

“As a nonprofit, Piedmont exists to serve its communities and this investment will help to serve one of Georgia’s fastest-growing communities,” said Piedmont Healthcare President and CEO Kevin Brown.

Piedmont partnered with Newton Medical Center to form Piedmont Newton in 2015. Like many community and rural hospitals across the country at that time, Newton Medical Center had struggled to remain financially sustainable. Piedmont has since invested $70 million into expanding services in the community and into the hospital facility itself, which was built in 1954. Newton County, located 35 miles east of Atlanta, is home to more than 112,000 people, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

The existing hospital is licensed for 128 beds but is currently limited by its aging and landlocked physical plant. The planned relocation facility will facilitate modernization efforts.

“The relocation hospital not only will enable us to provide more access and high-quality care now but it also will position us to grow with Newton County and to support those communities along the I-20 corridor to the east,” said Piedmont Newton CEO Lindsey Petrini.

Piedmont Newton employs around 1,000 people and has more than 500 physicians and 200 Advanced Practice Practitioners on medical staff. The hospital had nearly 8,000 inpatient admissions in its Fiscal Year 2026 and its 32-bed Emergency Department received more than 52,000 visits.

Since joining the Piedmont system, the hospital has received 11 A grades from the independent Leapfrog Group, which rates hospitals on patient safety. Piedmont Newton provides advanced Neonatal Intensive Care services and serves as a Primary Stroke Center for the area.

Piedmont, which treats patients from all 50 states, has nationally recognized programs and is a system of 2,000 locations, including 28 hospitals, that cares for more than 4.5 million patients annually.

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SOURCE Piedmont Healthcare