WTH's North Hospital fully open and running

Jackson Sun

The old labor and delivery rooms from the building's previous owner have been transformed into spacious recovery rooms at West Tennessee Healthcare's North Hospital on the Highway 45 By-Pass in North Jackson.

A sign welcoming visitors sits in front of the cafeteria at West Tennessee Healthcare's North Hospital on the Highway 45 By-Pass in North Jackson.

West Tennessee Healthcare officially celebrated last week the opening of its new North Hospital facility on the Highway 45 By-Pass in Jackson.

The building, which was one of three WTH bought from TennNova in 2018, will primarily be used as the place where the bulk of orthopedic procedures will happen.

But the sleep lab and a full emergency department are also in the building as well.

“The emergency department here has everything it needs to be a full service emergency department,” said Deann Thelan, a vice-president of WTH and CEO of Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.

The prep room is lined with beds at West Tennessee Healthcare's North Hospital on the Highway 45 By-Pass in North Jackson.

The facility had a soft opening early this year as orthopedics gradually moved to the new facility, but the emergency department has always been open, even during the initial shutdowns and staff cutbacks early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thelan said there were a number of options discussed when figuring out how to use the facility, but orthopedics was the way to go.

“There are so many orthopedics patients in this area that having them all brought here made sense,” Thelan said. “And that’s everything from working rehabbing from sports injuries to hip replacements.”

A bed is prepared with needed supplies for upcoming surgery the following day at West Tennessee Healthcare's North Hospital on the Highway 45 By-Pass in North Jackson.

WTH is making use of the facilities that were already in place before the purchase as the rooms that were used in labor and delivery are now where surgery patients go for recovery.

Along with WTH leadership, local leaders from Jackson, Madison County, The Jackson Chamber and United Way of West Tennessee were on hand for the commemoration.

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.