(COLUMBIA COUNTY, Ga.) — Wellstar has announced a new partnership with Augusta University Health System just months after abruptly closing two metro Atlanta hospitals.

AU Health System announced the partnership on Tuesday. The two organizations have signed a letter of intent to expand the AU Health System’s education and research missions and allow Wellstar to partner with the university’s Medical College of Georgia.

“The proposed partnership would focus on expanding digital health offerings and growing the pipeline of physicians and other health care providers serving Georgia, while developing innovative new care models and offerings that benefit patients and communities across the state,” Wellstar CEO Candice Saunders said in a statement to employees. “The partnership would likely result in significant investments to improve existing healthcare facilities and to expand access to care across the state.”

Saunders said one of those expansions would be a new hospital and new medical office buildings in Columbia County, which is near Augusta. She said that most of Wellstar’s day-to-day operations would remain the same.

Earlier this year, Wellstar closed Atlanta Medical Center-South in East Point and Atlanta Medical Center in downtown Atlanta. Both hospitals served lower-income patients. The closure became a hot-button issue for people that relied on what had been one of just two level 1 trauma centers in metro Atlanta.

The remaining level 1 trauma center is at Grady Memorial Hospital, which has had to absorb most of Atlanta Medical Center’s patients.

Wellstar Health System released a statement at the time, reading:

“After an exhaustive search for a solution that would support the healthcare needs of the community. We are disappointed that a sustainable solution at AMC has not emerged. We realize the news impact the lives of our team members and the patients we serve in very personal and significant ways.

AU Health System recently won a court case that will allow them to build a new hospital in Columbia County, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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