Wellstar Kennestone Hospital Campus Transformation

Wellstar Healthcare System has undertaken a comprehensive, multi-phase transformation of its flagship Kennestone Hospital campus in Marietta, Georgia to ensure the facility can meet growing regional demand, advance clinical excellence, and modernize infrastructure across its nearly 1.5 million SF campus. Through targeted planning, strategic new construction, and robust infrastructure investment, the program positions Kennestone as a leading destination for acute, emergency, and specialty care for decades to come. 

At the foundation of this effort was a campus-wide Master Plan and Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) that evaluated all major hospital buildings, including the Blue, Green, and Purple Towers; Oncology Building; Surgery Center; Kennestone Outpatient Building; and the Central Energy Plant (CEP). SSR provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering services to assess the condition, capacity, and lifecycle of major systems, develop capital planning recommendations, and align infrastructure capabilities with the hospital’s long-term strategic vision. The FCA provided Wellstar with a detailed inventory of major MEP/FP equipment, identified systems nearing end of life, established order-of-magnitude replacement costs, and recommended phased improvements to minimize operational disruption—all while supporting potential changes in building use from inpatient to ambulatory or office functions as care models evolve.  

Building upon this strategic planning framework, Wellstar advanced two major capital projects that directly address patient demand, acuity, and service expansion. 

One of the most significant investments is the replacement of the existing Baird Building with a new nine-story inpatient bed tower, a 300,000 SF facility which saw its first patient in April of 2026. Centrally located between the existing Purple and Blue Towers, the Yellow Tower is designed to seamlessly connect to both, improving care coordination and operational efficiency. The tower will add 151 new acute-care beds, 49 next-generation neonatal intensive care beds, expanded neonatal services, and advanced cardiovascular and neurology service lines. Designed with a strong focus on patient-centered care, the tower incorporates private rooms, modern amenities, enhanced dietary services, and in-room dining, all supported by state-of-the-art MEP/FP systems engineered to deliver reliability, flexibility, and future-ready performance. 

In support of the Yellow Tower, the master planning effort identified critical opportunities to strengthen campus infrastructure and improve system resiliency. As part of this work, the central chiller plant was expanded and the campus oxygen (O₂) park was doubled in size—investments driven both by the findings of the Facility Condition Assessment and by the increased demands associated with the new Yellow Bed Tower. These upgrades enhanced redundancy, operational flexibility, and reliability across the campus, ensuring critical systems could support current needs while providing capacity for future growth. 

Completed in June 2020, the Replacement Emergency Medicine Department represents a pivotal early investment in modernizing care delivery at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital and predated the campus-wide master planning effort. Developed in direct response to escalating emergency volumes and increasing patient acuity, the project established a new benchmark for emergency and trauma care on the campus and helped inform subsequent long-term planning initiatives. 

The two-story, 184,000SF facility was designed to support up to 200,000 visits annually, making it the busiest emergency department in Georgia. The 166-bed department includes a dedicated 12-bed trauma pod with direct ambulance access, in-room imaging, and immediate CT connectivity, along with a specialized pediatric emergency department featuring its own ambulance entrance and high-acuity treatment rooms. 

Recognizing growing behavioral health needs in the region, the project also introduced a purpose-built 12-bed behavioral health emergency department with all private rooms, anti-ligature protection, secure intake spaces, and flexible capacity to adapt to community demand.  

Supporting infrastructure additions—such as a rooftop helipad, covered ambulance parking for 14 vehicles, and a 200-space parking garage—further strengthened emergency operations and campus access. 

As one of only three Level II trauma centers in metro Atlanta, a Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center, and Georgia’s only Joint Commission Certified Comprehensive Cardiac Center, the Replacement Emergency Medicine Department set a critical clinical and operational foundation. Its successful delivery informed the later master plan by establishing proven performance standards, infrastructure expectations, and capacity benchmarks for subsequent campus expansion and modernization. 

Together, the master planning effort, new Bed Tower, and replacement Emergency Department represent a fully integrated approach to campus modernization, aligning infrastructure reliability, clinical expansion, patient experience, and long-term operational resilience. As a long-term partner, SSR provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering services across all phases of work, helping translate Wellstar’s strategic vision into high-performance, coordinated solutions. Through careful phasing, data-driven capital planning, and high-performance engineering design, Wellstar Kennestone Hospital is positioned to continue serving as a cornerstone of advanced healthcare delivery for the state of Georgia well into the future.