It’s so cold in the Aldredge Health Center, Fulton County facilities project director Dennis King said, that patients aren’t willing to disrobe for their examinations.

The building’s HVAC unit would cost nearly $6 million to replace. So in the short term, the county decided to spend $285,250 to buy heat strips that will provide heat in targeted areas in the building, like exam rooms and waiting rooms.

“It’s the biggest bang for the buck on a short-term basis,” King said. “The heating will only take us through the winter. It’s an interim thing.”

King said the county had to get large space heaters so people could tolerate working in the building, which serves critical patients sent over from Grady Hospital.

“We cannot go through a winter with those folks having to be examined” without heat, he said. “You’ve got to take care of the patients while you’ve got them.”

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Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo