UGA breaks ground on $100 million medical research center

ATHENS, Ga. — Gov. Brian Kemp joined administrators at University of Georgia on Friday to celebrate the addition of a new medical research center that will train Georgia’s future physicians.

Margaret Henry says she knew what her life’s work would be when she was a little girl.

“My granddad practiced in rural Georgia. In Barnesville, my hometown. I saw the care he was bringing to folks in Lamar County. That was so inspiring to me,” Henry told Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen.

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With the turn of a few shovels, the University of Georgia will try to cure what some call a critical illness - the serious shortage of doctors across the state.

The site of UGA’s Health Sciences Campus in Athens will be the home of a 92,000-square-foot, $100 million Medical Education and Research Building, which officials say will be part of the future UGA School of Medicine.

Kemp says while new Georgia doctors are being trained, new Georgia hospitals are being built.

“Grady announced this week that they’re doing a stand-alone ER south of the city of Atlanta where the Atlanta Medical Center was, we’ve seen a stand-alone ER in Northwest Georgia, so there’s hospitals being built as we speak,” Kemp said.

Administrators say nine Georgia counties don’t have even one physician, and one in 10 Georgians live in a county with only one.

Henry aims to help.

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“We are committed to bring healthcare to Georgia. Seeing the UGA part of that grow is so exciting for us,” Henry said.

She will be Dr. Henry in three years.

UGA’s new medical research facility will open in the fall of 2026.

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