South DeKalb will get another Grady health center next year but this one will be a “super center “ providing a wide variety of services to both insured and uninsured patients.

DeKalb Commissioner Larry Johnson welcomed news of the center which comes four months after Grady had tried to close its Rainbow Drive health center in District Three, which he represents.

“It will become the Wal-Mart of health care, a one-stop shop,” Johnson said.

Denise Williams, Grady’s executive vice president, made a presentation about the health system’s plans to add four super health centers in Fulton and DeKalb counties at the Nov. 2 meeting of the Grady Memorial Hospital Corp. Board of Directors.

No vote was needed, according to Matt Gove, the system’s vice president of communications and marketing. He said the goal is to open them sometime in 2010.

Grady has just started trying to identify sites for the new center in southeast DeKalb, Gove said.

“It needs to be more than 15,000 square feet,” he said. “Mostly it has to do with ease of access and parking.” The site may be rented or purchased, whichever is most cost effective.

In addition to the southeast DeKalb center, plans call for expansion of the DeKalb Grady Neighborhood Health Center in the Kirkwood area of Atlanta. Gove said parking is terrible at the center.

“It is difficult for some patients to get up hill from the parking area,” he said. “We are committed to that area of DeKalb and need a new larger location to provide services. There are a couple options very close by that we are looking at to move that center.”

The two other super health centers will be located in north and south Fulton County.

“The goal for each center is to break even on their own,” Gove said. “Part of what we are trying to do is to move from strictly free care to create a medical office that attracts all patients, insured and uninsured.”

Gove said the plan for all Grady centers is to provide the level of service that insureds are used to and uninsured deserve to have. He said cardiovascular, orthopedic and obstetrical specialists will rotate through the super centers. There will be no outpatient surgery, at least initially.

Johnson said it is always good to increase primary care access points and it is hope that the new center will be a “holistic place” that focuses not just on care of the sick, but also on wellness.

He also wants to see it offer preventive care such as screenings for diabetes and health education classes and prenatal services, as well as mental health, dental and geriatric services.

A decision has not been made whether the doctors at the super centers will come from Morehouse or Emory medical schools or be employed directly by Grady.

While details of the center’s schedule and staffing have not been determined, Johnson hopes it will be accessible by MARTA and will open seven days a week and in the evening to accommodate residents who work different shifts.

Gove said a $1 million gift from an unidentified donor will help fund the expansions, estimated to cost about $5 million. The rest of the funding will come from capital gifts and operational dollars in Grady’s budget.

While it is not part of the plan, Grady says it is not closing the door on seeking direct support from the counties for centers.

DeKalb already gives Grady $23 million a year for indigent care.

The South DeKalb Health Center inside the Kroger on Rainbow Way in Decatur will remain open. Gove said the customers who use it feel strongly about that location.

“It will continue operating as it has for years,” he said. “As we see success of the new centers, we may revisit moving that center to another location in the same neighborhood.”