Page 28 - index

With Entrepreneur-Friendly designations, Visit northwestgeorgia.us for more about industry
these four counties welcome small businesses perspectives and possibilities in the area.
andentrepreneurs, as well as manufacturers
and distributors. TOP INDUSTRIES BY EMPLOYMENT
• Retail Trade
Location and planning assistance are available • Accommodation and Food Services Your Health,
to your company through the Northwest Georgia • Healthcare and Social Assistance
Joint Development Authority, the State of Georgia,
and area utility companies. The Northwest • Finance and Insurance Your Home,
Georgia Joint Development Authority has an • Construction
inventory of buildings and industrial, commercial, *GA Department of Labor Q4 2024
and tourism development sites with built-in
incentives across the spectrum. Your Community
for their employees. This new hospital will
be a significant boost to our regional
Ringgold’s brand-new CommonSpirit Memorial economic development.”

Hospital opens its doors in January 2026. When the ribbon is cut, and the doors

By: Lydia Cobb open for patients and providers, they will
be entering the first “smart hospital” in
An elevated era of healthcare is coming soon Memorial Hospital). “By revitalizing this area, we the area. A smart hospital supports the
to Ringgold. CHI Memorial’s new hospital will are giving our local community the opportunity to automation of workflow efficiencies using
open as CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital and receive excellent, high-quality healthcare where technology and data to improve patient care
provide expanded access and more vital services they live.” and to streamline operations. Put simply,
closer to home for residents and visitors in an eraser board in a hospital room will be
Northwest Georgia. Ringgold is a community on the rise and the replaced with a digital monitor showing
residents’ reactions are ecstatic – it’s the type of patient and caregiver data. The World
CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital will have news citizens want to hear. The new hospital will Health Organization has identified having
smart hospitals as a priority and one of the
64 single-patient rooms – which doubles the connect to the existing medical office building on most pressing challenges in today’s global
capacity currently at CHI’s Fort Oglethorpe Battlefield Parkway, where CHI Memorial provides healthcare needs.
hospital – advancing superior healthcare covering primary and specialty care services, a cancer
more people. The new hospital will have an ICU center and breast center. This will create a single CHI Memorial Foundation’s Care Closer to Home
and 24-bed emergency department. There will campus and central location for inpatient and capital campaign raised $5 million with the
be five operating rooms with an array of surgical outpatient services. generosity of the Frank P. Pierce Foundation,
specialties, cancer care, comprehensive imaging Rich and Barbara Kramer, Hearst Family
services, non-invasive cardiac imaging, and two “Community hospitals are the lifeblood of Foundation, the Stiles Family, Jonathan
endoscopy suites with advanced technologies. the regions they serve, generating jobs and Connell, Martin Davis House Foundation, and
economic impact for local businesses, schools, Shaw Industries. Many community members
“Opening this newest hospital is one more way local government, and residents,’’ said also contributed to the campaign to help
we are fulfilling our mission to improve the former State Senator Jeff Mullis, advisor for make this hospital possible.
health of the communities we serve,” said Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority.
Angie Stiggins, administrator of CHI Memorial “Companies looking to locate in a new region put Healthcare is always hiring, so care closer to
Hospital Georgia (becoming CommonSpirit healthcare at the top of their list of requirements home may mean working closer, too.

26 Choose Catoosa County Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce CatoosaConnects.com