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AMERICUS, GA -- Future physicians got a chance to view the future of healthcare in Americus & Sumter County when first year pre-med students from the Mercer University School of Medicine toured Phoebe Sumter's new medical campus.

The tour was part of the annual Windshield Tour of Americus by Mercer School of Medicine pre-med students and included lunch with the Rotary Club as well as a tour of Americus courtesy of South Georgia Technical College. The students and their advisors first visited Phoebe Sumter's current 76-bed, 71,000 square foot facility, which was built one year after a tornado destroyed the old facility in March, 2007. They were then led to the new medical campus, which currently houses three support buildings and a brand new facility is being constructed and will be open for business on December 17th, 2011.

Here, the Mercer University School of Medicine Class of 2015 poses in front of the new Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, which will have 183,00 square feet of space, 76 private rooms, a rooftop garden and state of the art technology. According to Phoebe CEO Keith Petersen, it will be "the finest small hospital in America". The students were encouraged to return to Americus later this year to tour the facility as well.