Issue link: http://savannah.uberflip.com/i/1444971
29 statistical area centered on Savannah. As a regional healthcare delivery center, 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 Georgia's southeastern region. St. Joseph's/Candler health care system continues to expand its portfolio of medical facilities in the region. In Bryan County, SJ/C has plans to build a $40 million medical facility in Bryan County very close to the JDA mega site. In addition, a $4 million urgent care center opened in Richmond Hill in July 2021 and a $2.5 million investment established a cancer care center in Pembroke. Further, another cancer treatment center opened in Liberty County in Hinesville. The $34 million Phase I regional medical campus in Bluffton, SC. has commenced operations. Phase II of the campus in Buckwalter Place is planned for completion within about four years. Memorial University Medical Center is a notable provider of healthcare in the southeast region of Georgia with a 645- bed academic hospital serving 35 counties in the coastal Georgia and South Carolina area. Memorial's 86,000 square- foot Dwaine & Cynthia Willett Children's Hospital of Savannah opened in March 2021. The facility is expected to treat more than 70,000 patients from 106 counties in Georgia and South Carolina. Military Fort Stewart along with Hunter Army Airfield serves at the Army's premier power projection platform on the East Coast. The 3 rd Infantry Division's war-fighting capability is being upgraded in a plan that will provide the division with the most modern and most lethal ground and rotary wing combat equipment available in the world by summer 2023. In summer 2022, the division will participate in exercises to refine the role of the Army's doctrine for a "Penetration Division" in a potential conflict with a great power's military forces. Additionally, units of the 3 rd ID also engaged in live-fire testing of the Army's new Robot Command Vehicle (RCV) in 2021. The RCV is expected to serve in the role of wingmen for manned ground vehicles and tanks and further assessment of the platform at the company level is planned for 2022. The units stationed at the bases continue their service to the country. The Third Infantry Division's (3ID) 2 nd Armored Brigade Combat Team returned from a nine-month deployment to Europe for a NATO-related exercise. Approximately 3,600 personnel from the 1 st Armored Brigade Combat Team returned from a nine-month deployment to Korea, but members of the 92 nd Chemical Company remained to support the 1 st Armored Division. The 48 th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Georgia National Guard is an associated unit of the 3ID. The 48 th returned from a seven-month deployment in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense, with Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, is the largest employer in Coastal Georgia. In 2021, there were 25,500 military personnel and civilian defense workers at both facilities. The regional economic footprint is substantial: total payroll for both bases is approximately $1.5 billion and the facilities combine for an annual economic impact of $5 billion. The Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport hosts the Savannah Air National Guard Base. The 165 th Airlift Wing, 117 th Air Control Squadron, and 156 th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, based out of Charlotte, NC, operate from the airbase. The 165 th created a new Strategic Response Team in 2021 designed to handle emergency situations requiring advanced police tactics. The 165 th Airlift Wing hosts the Air Dominance Center (ADC) which 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.