Augusta, GA

Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia set to open on Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus

Published

2 years ago

July 27, 2024

Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia set to open on Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – The Medical College of Georgia is finally ready to open its doors on the Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern.

After a little more than a year building the school, leaders from around the state came together Friday for an official ribbon cutting.

This is a dream that has become reality. A new four-year medical campus in the Coastal Empire.

Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia expanding to Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus in an effort to improve current shortages in the state’s healthcare system.

“As we grow as a state and we are the number one place to do business, we also want to keep up with that in the healthcare environment,” said Dr. Russell Keen, President, Augusta University.

This is an initiative GSU officials say they’re already working towards.

”One out of every five undergraduate degree that is conferred in state of Georgia in health processions is a Georgia Southern graduate,” said Kyle Marrero, Georgia Southern University.

That’s why Georgia Southern’s president says this was the perfect partnership.

The campus just down the street from St. Joseph’s Hospital, a place students will be able to get hands-on experience.

“They’re practicing with real life physicians, and they get exposure to what it’s like to be on the ground,” said Paul Hinchey, CEO, St. Joseph’s Candler.

Getting them ready to better serve the Savannah area after graduating.

“The learning curve goes down, and they’re ready to hit the ground going,” said Hinchey.

Students acknowledging the next few years will be a lot of work but saying they’re excited to start this once in a lifetime opportunity.

“It’s going to be really difficult this year, and the years to come, but I know if I always remember my why and lean on my classmates, I can make it through no matter what,” said Brian Egan, medical school student.

Source link

Augusta, GA

Georgia mental health hospital expansion draws hundreds of millions in funding

Published

1 hour ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Georgia mental health hospital expansion draws hundreds of millions in funding

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -Hundreds of millions of dollars have been allocated to expand mental health care in Georgia through the construction of a new state hospital, and Augusta is among the locations under consideration.

Mental health advocates in Augusta say local facilities currently offer only short-term treatment, and patients with more severe needs are often required to travel to Atlanta for care. Even there, a lack of inpatient beds and a backlog for state hospital placement leaves many patients without the care they need.

NAMI Augusta weighs in

Peter Menk, a board member for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Augusta chapter, said the new facility would serve a significant number of people in the region.

“MCG had shut down. The VA uptown is more military oriented. Even going back in the day into Gracewood, a huge facility that helped a lot of people,” Menk said. “This funding will really go a long way in the state of Georgia to really become kind of a centerpiece for health care in general.”

Augusta’s role in the conversation

Talks have indicated Atlanta may be the site of the new state hospital, though other locations — including Augusta — are still being considered. State Sen. Blake Tillery said Augusta remains part of the discussion.

“The good news is if it doesn’t go to Augusta in the first round, we need to build three of these,” Tillery said. “So we’re going to have to build another one in order to have the bed space necessary to make sure that our jails aren’t being used as our state’s mental health hospitals. So do know that yes, Augusta is going to be pivotal to this conversation.”

Local provider moves forward with its own facility

Serenity Behavioral Health Crisis Center has also begun work on its own facility in the Augusta area, with a planned opening in May. The center said it hopes the facility will provide more beds and resources, and ease the burden on law enforcement and hospitals in the region.

Source link

Augusta, GA

Augusta biotech firm to unveil its sweet new production facilities

Published

13 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Augusta biotech firm to unveil its sweet new production facilities

A federal commission studying national security will tour an Augusta factory poised to help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign biotechnology.

The Manus factory on Lovers Lane uses and improves eco-friendly manufacturing methods to produce Reb M, a sweetener derived from the stevia plant but missing the bitter aftertaste in other stevia extracts.

On March 11, Manus will unveil and explain the major expansion of its domestic biomanufacturing capacity to members of the U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, created in 2022 under the National Defense Authorization Act.

Manus touts itself as a biotech success story. Four years after the 2014 closure of Augusta’s NutraSweet artificial sweetener factory, Manus reintroduced an upskilled workforce to make the factory one of the world’s largest fermentation facilities. There, microbes are engineered to allow reliable mass production of Reb M.

Biomanufacturing often struggles with scalability. Extracting a particular molecule from a plant might succeed in a lab, but teasing out those molecules on an industrial level traditionally has been unsustainable.Reb M, which is about 200 times sweeter than sugar, exists in such small quantities in stevia plants that extracting it using more mainstream methods often was financially impractical, until Manus developed its proprietary production method.

Manus’ Augusta plant produces Reb M for the brand-name sweetener Yume, from the Japanese word for “dream.”

“Biomanufacturing is not a future promise – it’s here now, in rural Georgia,” says Ajikumar Parayil, Manus’ founder and CEO. “The Augusta BioFacility stands as proof that we can reshore production, create high-quality American jobs, and deliver resilient innovation at scale. We are honored to showcase this capability to the NSCEB and contribute to shaping a strong, coordinated national strategy.”

Source link

Augusta, GA

EARLY RESULTS: Special election underway for Ga. House District 130 seat

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

EARLY RESULTS: Special election underway for Ga. House District 130 seat

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Voters in Georgia House District 130 headed to the polls Tuesday to fill the seat held by Rep. Lynn Heffner, who resigned.

The Augusta Democrat resigned because she was unable to meet the residency requirement for House District 130 due to damage to her home by Hurricane Helene.

Six candidates are on the ballot — four Democrats and two Republicans.