WellStar hospital to create 300 new jobs in GA

WellStar Health System – one of metro Atlanta's largest medical providers – plans to replace its aging Paulding County hospital with a new 112-bed, $125 million facility to help meet the need of a rapidly growing population. The 226,000-square-foot facility will be located in Hiram and create an estimated 300 new jobs in Paulding, one of the fastest growing counties in the state, said Mark Haney, WellStar's senior vice president of real estate and construction. A new medical office building -- totaling 80,000 square feet -- is also in the works and will bring an additional 200 jobs. Paulding County's population has jumped nearly 75% to more than 140,000 in the past decade, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It's expected to climb an additional nearly 19% by 2016.