Kaiser Permanente held an official grand opening Thursday morning for its new 185,000-square-foot call center in Gwinnett County.
The health care giant has vowed that the facility off Duluth’s Breckinridge Boulevard will create 800 new jobs by 2020. Nearly 300 new employees have already been hired, officials said in a news release.
Kaiser Permanente already operates national “contact centers” in California, Colorado, Hawaii and Maryland. Employees there answer millions of customer phone calls and emails about insurance coverage and billing each year.
The new Gwinnett facility, the arrival of which was announced last year by Gov. Nathan Deal, is expected to serve about 10 millions customers in eight different states, including roughly 300,000 Georgians.
Kaiser spent about $51 million to renovate its new Duluth home, which officials said meet LEED certification requirements for “green” buildings and is “designed to be a total health environment that inspires, influences and communicates good health.”
“We are excited about Kaiser Permanente’s latest investment in Gwinnett and how that decision reflects on our community’s strengths,” Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairman Charlotte Nash said in a news release. “Companies like Kaiser Permanente are able to grow and expand their business with confidence knowing they have access to a skilled workforce, solid infrastructure, and quality of life amenities like those offered here in Gwinnett County.”
Kaiser Permanente also opened a new technology facility in Midtown Atlanta last year. That location was expected to create 900 high-paying jobs.