Savannah Chamber

47 Health Services The regional health care sector continues to be a stalwart of economic consistency and growth since 2007. In fact, this sector is resistant to cyclical downturns and experienced a slight job loss of less than 1% during the Great Recession while the rest of the regional economy shed 8% of its workforce. Since 2007, growth in health services exceeded overall regional employment and health services now employs 22,500 workers. The health sector continues to be a vital component of the area's economy and growth prospects are good in the short and long run. The two nationally recognized medical centers in Savannah, St. Joseph's/Candler and Hospital Corporation of America's (HCA) Memorial University Medical Center serve the healthcare needs of people from across southeastern Georgia. St. Joseph's/Candler health care system continues to expand its portfolio of medical facilities in the region. Phase I of the $62 million campus in Pooler is expected to open in March 2019. Additionally, groundbreaking of a four-acre campus of medical facilities is planned for Bluffton, SC in 2019. The $22 million project will be constructed over six years. The project will consolidate services currently provided in various locations and create space for the expansion of healthcare service offerings. Final closing of the sale of Memorial University Medical Center to HCA occurred in early 2018. The agreement is valued at approximately $710 million and includes $456 million to purchase the assets of Memorial and assume its debt. Memorial is the largest provider of healthcare in the southeast region of Georgia with about 4,600 employees including 65 physicians and a 612- bed academic hospital. Since Memorial University Medical Center integrated with HCA, letters of intent have been filed to plan for a $32 million renovation to its Heart & Vascular Institute tower and a $35 million expansion of the Willett Children's Hospital. Memorial Health also opened its refurbished 26-bed adult in-patient Behavioral Health Services Center in early 2019. In early 2019, Georgia Southern University opened a new $24 million building in Savannah to house the Waters College of Health Professions. The project was designed to provide health professions students with cutting-edge technology in a collaborative environment characteristic of contemporary health care services delivery. St. Joseph's/Candler healthcare contributed funds for a nursing suite in the facility. Military Fort Stewart is not only the largest military installation east of the Mississippi River covering 280,000 acres but, combined with Hunter Army Airfield, is one of the largest employers in Coastal Georgia. In 2018, there were about 24,400 military personnel and civilian defense workers at both facilities. Fort Stewart and Hunter AAF continue to play an important role in the regional economy. Total payroll for both bases is estimated at $1.5 billion and with an annual financial impact of five billion dollars. Elements of the Third Infantry Division's second brigade began training exercises as an armored brigade in 2018 after transitioning from a light infantry brigade in 2017. The transition added about 90 M1 Abrams tanks, 140 Bradley fighting vehicles, and 18 self-propelled howitzers to the unit. Elements of the Third Infantry Division (3ID) continue to serve throughout the world. Georgia's 48 th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, an associated unit of the Third Infantry Division, will be deploying for nine months to Afghanistan in 2019. Over 500 soldiers of the "Black Diamond" 92 nd Engineer Battalion deployed in mid-2018 to six countries in the Central Command area of operation. About 30 soldiers from the 3ID's headquarters detachment financial management support unit deployed to Kuwait in October 2018 and are expected to return in mid-2019. In October 2018, the First Brigade's 4,000 soldiers returned from a nine- month deployment to South Korea. It was the unit's first deployment to the Korean peninsula since the Korean War. In July 2018, soldiers from the CAB returned from a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan along with approximately 200 soldiers of the Division Sustainment Brigade (logistical support). Elements of the 3 rd Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) assisted in Hurricane Florence relief and recovery operations in North Carolina in fall 2018. The Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport hosts the Savannah Air National Guard Base. The 165 th Airlift Wing and the 117 th Air Control Squadron operate from the airbase. The 117 th Air Control Squadron was deployed for most of 2018. The units supported relief operations in Georgia after the passage of Hurricane Michael in 2018. The 165 th 's Airlift Wing has added approximately two dozen full time positions. The Air Dominance Center (ADC) at the base is one of only four Air National Guard Combat Readiness Training Centers in the country. The ADC hosts Sentry Savannah, which is a quarterly large-scale "fight club" for combat air forces. The Air Dominance Center is finalizing details of a $20 million dollar hangar and office construction project to be completed in FY 2020.

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