Augusta University to open imaging, pediatric multispecialty clinics on Wheeler Road

To better serve patients, Augusta University is opening a new care center on Wheeler Road.

The new building at 3722 Wheeler Road — less than a mile from I-20 — will house two clinics: AU Health Imaging and Children’s Hospital of Georgia Pediatric Multispecialty.

“We put (AU Health Imaging) here to make it more convenient for people in the larger metropolitan area and surrounding communities, including Columbia County,” said Dr. Annette Johnson, chair of the department of radiology and imaging. “So we positioned the new center just off of I-20, right on the Richmond-Columbia County line.”

The independent diagnostic testing facility will offer expanded imaging services with a radiologist on site. It includes two MRIs, a CT scanner, two ultrasound machines, a 3D mammogram machine, X-ray and DEXA, which measures bone density.

For patient comfort, there is a separate area for women’s imaging, including a separate waiting room.

Scheduling will be done in-house for faster appointments.

“One thing that will separate us from everyone else in the community is that the radiologists who are interpreting these scans are the same subspecialty radiologists who provide this expertise downtown,” Johnson said. “That way we have, for example, pediatric radiologists who read the pediatric work and neuroradiologists who read all the neuro work.”

The pediatric multispecialty clinic will offer a variety of subspecialties in one convenient location. Services include pediatric neurology, pediatric nephrology, pediatric hematology, pediatric cardiology, pediatric pulmonology, pediatric endocrinology, and pediatric GI.

“It will have the same Children’s Hospital of Georgia-level care, just in a different location that is aiming to better serve patients and make it more efficient for them,” said Dr. Valera Hudson, chair of the department of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

The clinic will feature six exam rooms and will allow subspecialties to provide expanded services. For example, pediatric cardiology will be able to provide EKG and echocardiogram.

“This is the first dedicated space in the community for pediatric subspecialty services all in one location. That’s what’s unique about this,” Hudson said.

The imaging clinic will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the pediatric clinic will be open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.