Starr Regional Medical Center in Athens quietly pulled off a big move on Wednesday, transferring patients into its newly finished intensive care unit, according to the City of Athens. The revamped ICU takes the hospital from five rooms to 10 private intensive-care suites, adds upgraded monitoring and tele-ICU-ready technology, creates a new family waiting area, and tacks on two more beds to the medical-surgical unit - changes hospital leaders say will help keep the sickest patients closer to home.
New ICU Opens On Madison Avenue
Photos and a caption on the City of Athens page show staff wheeling equipment into the renovated Madison Avenue unit and note that patients were moved into the space on Wednesday.
Starr Regional Medical Center first announced the $12 million ICU expansion in January 2025, saying it would double ICU rooms from five to 10, convert them to private suites, create a dedicated family waiting area, and add two medical-surgical beds. The hospital said the project is backed by a $6.4 million grant from the Tennessee Department of Health’s Healthcare Resiliency Program.
Tele-ICU Brings Round-The-Clock Specialist Coverage
Starr Regional also rolled out a 24/7 tele-ICU service last year that links local bedside teams with board-certified intensivists, a setup hospital leaders say is meant to support higher-acuity patients in the expanded unit.
In its tele-ICU announcement, Equum Medical said the program, operated in partnership with Starr Regional and powered by Caregility technology, will extend virtual intensivist coverage to the five new beds. “We are bringing critical care expertise directly to our patients’ bedsides, day or night,” CEO John McLain said in a Starr Regional release.
Why This Matters For McMinn County
Rural hospitals typically run with far fewer ICU beds than big-city centers, and researchers have long warned that limited local capacity can force transfers and delay high-level care. Analyses from the Commonwealth Fund and peer-reviewed literature note that tele-ICU programs can reduce transfers and improve access to specialist care, outcomes that local officials say this upgrade is meant to deliver.
City officials and hospital leaders shared photos and reactions on social media and said the finished unit should let more critically ill patients receive care without long trips to larger hospitals. The City of Athens post includes photos from moving day, while the Starr Regional Medical Center news page offers more background on the expansion.
