WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — A Warner Robins medical center is getting a new name, and according to a press release from Houston Healthcare, the building is getting named after the person who made the facility a reality.
In 1995, Houston Healthcare opened the Houston Health Pavilion at 233 North Houston Road at the site of an old Sears store.
The 50,000-square-foot building where people used to purchase appliances and other household goods would soon become an ambulatory care center.
At the time of its opening in 1995, there was a push towards outpatient care – or medical treatment that does not involve a hospital stay – and long-time chair of Houston Healthcare's board, Roy H. "Sonny" Watson, saw this as an opportunity to get in on the trend, the press release said.
Now, the Houston Healthcare Systems Board of Trustees, one of the two governing bodies overseeing Houston Healthcare, voted at the December 2022 strategic planning meeting to change the facility's name in honor of Watson.
This month, the facility officially got its new signage: the Roy H. "Sonny" Watson Health Pavilion.
"We are pleased to honor Mr. Watson for his countless hours and dedication to help our health system grow," Houston Healthcare President & CEO Charles Briscoe said in the release. "The health pavilion was his vision, so it only seems fitting that it bears his name."
Watson is now chairman emeritus of the board after leaving the board back in December 2022, according to a release from Houston Healthcare.
The facility is home to a wide variety of medical services.
The pavilion has a diagnostic center, a family medical center, an outpatient urgent care med-stop, a rehabilitation center, a conference center, the Trinity School Medicine, several physician practices and the offices for some of Houston Healthcare's administrative departments, the press release said.
It's also home to Houston Healthcare's Community Education, or the EduCare, department. That organization offers free exercise, cooking and wellness classes to improve healthcare outcomes in Houston County.