St. Mary’s opens Guest Cottage for Families of Seriously Ill patients

St. Mary’s Healthcare in Athens has opened a new guest cottage to serve families of seriously ill patients.

Called the St. Mary’s Mercy Guest Cottage, the home opened March 30th and sits on the campus of Highland Hills Village on Jennings Mill Road.

The cottage was the idea of the Stephens family whose son had died in an Atlanta hospital in 2020 after a car crash.

At the dedication, Ben Stephens said the hospital put him and his wife and family up in a guest cottage nearby so they could be with their son every day and not have to worry about where they were going to sleep each night.

The guest cottage enabled the family to ensure their son was never alone.

After their son passed away, the Stephens reached out to St. Mary’s and began the process of paying it forward.

St. Mary’s President and CEO Montez Carter said St. Mary’s Mercy Guest Cottage will be a great blessing to out-of-town families; especially for those who live hours or days away from their loved ones in the hospital.

Built in 1985, the cottage began life as a rental property at Highland Hills Village. In 2003, it became the convent of the Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus who served at St. Mary’s and in the Athens community.

But with the retirement of the Sisters in 2019, the cottage stood vacant, waiting to be put to a new use.

The Stephens worked with St. Mary’s to renovate the cottage and established a foundation in their son’s name.

Hospital spokesman Mark Ralston tells WLHR News the St. Mary’s Mercy Guest Cottage will be available for use by families of patients receiving care at St. Mary’s Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospice House, as well as families of residents at Highland Hills Village.

Details on scheduling a stay at the Guest Cottage will be available in the near future.