The McDuffie County Hospital Authority is coordinating the effort to develop the 18.01 acres behind the medical center into a professional office park. Major development funding has been requested from a One Georgia equity grant in the amount of $500,000.
One Georgia was put into place, with one-third of the tobacco settlement funds, to assist rural areas with economic development. The medical center is continuously seeking ways to attract physicians and health-related businesses, which in turn will continue to provide employment for the facility which currently employs over 200 full-time and part-time associates.
The hospital authority would fund approximately $20,000 to assist in the development project and intends to sell up to 11 one-acre building sites to cover the expenses the medical center has incurred for purchasing and preparing the property for development. The sale of timber from the site could also bring in approximately $10,000 to $15,000 in the near future. In timbering the site, the authority has committed to respect the surrounding property owners by providing vegetation buffers on three sides of the site.
Should the One Georgia grant not be approved (August, 2004) the hospital authority would then reconsider the entire project.
