For years, Shelby County has needed another hospital. As population numbers have swelled, public officials have constantly sounded a warning that there was no way for residents to get fast, reliable medical care, especially during rush hours.

We’re glad to see Trinity Medical Center and Brookwood Medical Center step up to the plate, finally gaining the necessary approval to change the state of medical attention in Shelby County.

Trinity plans to relocate their hospital from the 44-year-old Montclair Road facility in Birmingham to the vacant Health South facility just outside the Shelby County line in Jefferson County. Even though this hospital won’t be in Shelby County, it will make a difference in the lives of countless Shelby County citizens who will have intense medical traumas requiring a hospital’s care.

The facility is already state-of-the-art, and Trinity plans to invest another $280 million to complete it – likely making the hospital one of the best in the state, if not the country. Trinity officials said the hospital could be completed in about two years. Brookwood’s free-standing emergency room, to open in the Greystone area, will be completed in about 18 months. Imagine that. In only 24 months, many Shelby County citizens will go from having very few options for healthcare close to home, to having an abundance of medical centers ready to serve them in any situation.

The We Say is the opinion of the Shelby County Reporter editorial board.