The Jekyll Island Authority has approved a lease agreement to establish a Mercer Medicine rural health clinic in the island’s Beach Village commercial center. 

Mercer Medicine Jekyll Island will operate in a 4,534-square-foot, second-floor space that was originally constructed with intention to house a medical clinic but has mostly remained vacant. The Jekyll Island Authority will fund renovation of the facility to house the clinic, which will offer primary and emergency care seven days per week, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., during peak summer travel season from May-August and no less than five days per week, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., from September-April. The clinic is expected to open in June 2023.

“We have waited over seven years for the right partner to fill this need on Jekyll Island,” said Jones Hooks, executive director of the Jekyll Island Authority. “We are looking forward to this partnership to bring Mercer’s medical expertise to serve and support the island’s needs.” 

As an outcome of a successful decade of revitalization, the island has experienced significant residential growth and leisure visitation, resulting in an increased demand for this type of service. 

“We are honored to partner with the Jekyll Island Authority,” said Jean Sumner, M.D., FACP, dean of Mercer University School of Medicine. “We look forward to bringing high-quality primary health care to the residents of and visitors to this treasured rural area of Georgia.”

Mercer Medicine, the faculty practice of Mercer University School of Medicine, operates a multi-specialty medical practice in downtown Macon. 

In July 2018, Mercer Medicine expanded outside of Macon by opening a rural clinic in Plains at the request of former U.S. President and Mercer Life Trustee Jimmy Carter. At the dedication ceremony for the clinic, Mercer President William D. Underwood said Mercer Medicine Plains “represents part of a broad-ranging initiative by the University to transform access to health care in this state” and would serve as a model for additional rural health clinics around the state.

Building off that successful launch, and in order to continue delivering on its commitment to meet the health care needs of rural Georgians, Mercer opened rural health clinics in Peach County in October 2019, Clay County in November 2020, Putnam County in March 2021 and Harris County in April 2022. Mercer Medicine Jekyll Island, within Glynn County, would be the University’s sixth such clinic.