JAMESTOWN, Tenn. — People in Fentress County may soon get help quickly when they get sick after the University of Tennessee Medical Center said they received approval to build a satellite emergency department in Jamestown.
They said Wednesday that they received "Certificate of Need" approval from state leaders. They said the new satellite emergency department will be around 7,020 square feet and will have nine treatment rooms including one trauma room for emergency situations.
Officials said it will be at 208 West Central Avenue on a site that was previously used by a former hospital owner as an imaging facility.
“For too long, the citizens of Fentress County have lacked access to emergency care,” said Jimmy Johnson, a Fentress County Executive. “We are thrilled for UT Medical Center’s leadership in providing the FSED that will most greatly contribute to the continuum of care in the delivery and range of medical services that will now be available in Fentress County.”
The new emergency department is set to open by mid-2022. Fentress County has not had a hospital since June 2019.
Earlier, officials said that the emergency center would function like a regular, licensed emergency room, but would also be distinct from the UT Medical Center.
The Jamestown Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Fentress County, closed in June after running dangerously low on supplies. There were signs posted on the facility's doors that said patients would not be treated until the facility reopened.