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Pooler, Ga. – The next level in healthcare will open Monday at the new St. Joseph’s/Candler Pooler Campus.

Today, St. Joseph’s/Candler President & CEO Paul P. Hinchey greeted community leaders and physicians at the hospital to unveil the completely new patient experience the campus will provide.

“Our goal is to create the best consumer experience possible by using high-touch and high-tech strategies,” Hinchey said. “We will put the patient in charge by enhancing communication, personalizing the experience, creating convenience and eliminating duplication. This facility is the model for our healthcare future.”

The growth in and around Pooler during the last decade showed that the residents needed better access to healthcare and more services. Those services represent the move in healthcare to more outpatient procedures.

“The reality of this technologically-advanced medical campus tailored to what the residents of Pooler and West Chatham need is quickly becoming a reality,” Hinchey said. “We will soon be providing important medical services that they used to have to drive miles for.”

St. Joseph’s/Candler is building a technologically advanced, concierge-level of service medical campus that will house surgical suites, many medical specialties, primary care, urgent care and more. The 220,000-square-foot facility will have three phases and cost $62 million. This first phase is 83,000 square feet and cost $32.5 million.  

The hospital will contribute to Pooler’s economic development by employing approximately 100 co-workers.

St. Joseph’s/Candler has been in Pooler since 1992 and has expanded services to correspond to the growth of the area. In addition to a thriving primary care practice, St. Joseph’s/Candler has built offices for specialty physicians and an advanced imaging center. But now is the time for a centralized campus to take St. Joseph’s/Candler’s advanced services to the community.  

The new 27-acre campus will be located on Pooler Parkway near the intersection with Interstate 16. The project will be multi-phased and built out over a ten-year period to create a multi-story, technologically advanced medical facility.

It will house offices for specialty and primary care offices in close proximity to key clinical services.

PHASE I

The hospital contains:

• St. Joseph’s/Candler Physician Network Primary Care
• Urgent Care Services (opening May 1)
• Specialist offices
  • St. Josephs/Candler Physician Network  - Cardiology Associates of Savannah
  • Georgia Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists
    • Savannah Pediatric ENT
    • Savannah Facial Plastic Surgery
  • St. Joseph’s/Candler Vascular Surgery
  • St. Joseph’s/Candler Physician Network Neurology
  • St. Joseph’s/Candler Physician Network Podiatry
  • St. Joseph’s/Candler Physician Network OB/GYN
  • Metro Surgical
  • Gastroenterology Consultants of Savannah

The clinical services section contains:

• Outpatient Surgery Services, including the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System
• Advanced Imaging Services
• Endoscopy
• Outpatient Physical Therapy Services
• Blood draw
• Wellness Services
• Medication Management

Phase II is expected to include:

• Expanded primary care offices
• Expanded specialty offices
• Wound Care
• Cardiac rehab
• Occupational medicine
• Diagnostic cardiology
• Short stay observation beds

The St. Joseph’s/Candler Pooler Campus fills a significant community gap in the rapidly developing Pooler area. Many of the housing subdivisions are completely built out and others are filling up.

St. Joseph’s/Candler has been building a significant regional footprint – now with 87 provider locations spanning 33 counties in southeastern Georgia and South Carolina.

A New Type of Hospital

In the past few years the health care industry has shifted dramatically from traditional in-patient services that involve longer hospital stays to more out-patient services, such as day surgery, imaging or non-invasive procedures that involve little or no time spent in the hospital for recovery.

These hospitals address that shift and treat lower-acuity patients in locations near where patients live.

The outpatient services that patients need are perfect for the setting that St. Joseph’s/Candler is creating for the Pooler campus. The services will be convenient for patients who are visiting primary care and specialty doctors and will no longer have to drive into Savannah for important procedures, labs or imaging.  

“These facilities are the future of healthcare,” Hinchey said. “We have designed the Pooler campus so we can easily adapt to any changes in the healthcare industry that come in the next 25 years.”