WAYNESBORO, Ga (WJBF)- Burke Medical Center in Waynesboro is under new Management.

They have new construction and all kinds of big plans for this hospital. Kim Vickers sat down with the hospital’s CEO who officially announced the new name exclusively to NewsChannel 6.

“So, Burke Health is kind of that, you know, wellness, it covers every gambit. It’s not just Burke Medical Center or Burke Cardiology. It is Burke Health,” said Michael Hester, CEO Burke Health.

To Hester, rebranding is important because he says it changes the community’s perception of an organization.

“You could have a bad experience 20 or 30 years ago, and still don’t want to go to the hospital because of that experience, or your family member had, or they heard something. Well, we want to make it a place where everybody wants to come,” he explained.

And rebranding isn’t the only change at Burke Health. They are remodeling the main building and re purposing other properties.

“We want to support the structure that was here originally. Because the community has a lot of good memories around these things. It means a lot to folks. So, we’re using an old physician’s office that was a staple here in the community.”

Burke Health will also be getting two new operating rooms– and they are going to need them.

“And so, what we’ve done is add an orthopedic specialty to it. And in addition to orthopedics, we’re going to have cardiology services as well,” Hester said. “We’re going to be able to do diagnostic and preventional cardiology procedures here, which for a rural hospital, to do all that is phenomenal.”

The work Burke Health is doing will not only have an economic impact, but will bring much needed medical services to Burke County and surrounding communities.