Fairhope Now | 08.12.2026 | Thomas Hospital Opens $40M Medical Wing

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Happy Wednesday, Fairhope!

August on the Eastern Shore means the air conditioners are running double shifts and the school supply lists have been conquered — and somehow our little town still finds time to grow. We have a big week of news, and we do mean big: Thomas Hospital has opened a brand-new $40 million medical wing right here in Fairhope, which is the kind of headline that makes you proud to live somewhere. On the more everyday-but-still-welcome front, a new Advance Auto Parts has opened at Planter's Point and a new roundabout is being proposed on Twin Beech Road.

Your Wednesday Funny: Why did the student cross the playground? To get to the other slide.

Dive into all of today's updates below — there's a lot to celebrate in our community this week.

— Joy Davis, Anne Dorman, John Oldshue

Thomas Hospital opened a new four-story medical wing Tuesday, completing a $40 million expansion one month ahead of schedule. The facility adds 25 medical surgical beds, an expanded Cath Lab, a rooftop helipad, and multi-tier parking garage. Patient rooms feature motion sensors, iPads, two-way video systems, and fall-prevention technology including pressure sensors on beds and toilet seats. The hospital began admitting patients to the new beds the same day the wing opened.

The Fairhope City Council voted Monday to apply for $2.5 million in county infrastructure funding to help cover the cost of a $5 million road and roundabout project in the Twin Beeches Corridor. The city is asking Baldwin County to split the cost through an infrastructure cost-sharing program.

The new Advance Auto Parts location at Planter's Point off N. Hwy 181 opens August 20. The status of the S. Greeno Road store remains unclear for now.

Fairhope senior Trey Garner announced his commitment to play basketball at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The two-sport star, who plays quarterback for the Pirates and led them to the Class 7A Final Four this year, averaged 15.3 points and 8.1 rebounds as a second-team All-State selection.

The Fairhope Times reports that the new Julwins Plaza is under construction in downtown Fairhope, with no parking spaces lost in the process. The project is beginning to take visible shape.

For Fairhope artist Karen Ballard, formerly known as Karen Faire, creativity has been a lifelong companion. A California native who moved to Fairhope in 1997, Ballard has explored everything from airbrushing and jewelry-making to glasswork, watercolor, pastel and oil painting. Her artistic journey began with simple doodles and a fascination with color, eventually leading her to paint murals on vans and study design in college. Through all those different mediums, one thing has remained constant: her fascination with light. "Taking something ordinary and changing the light on it just makes it extraordinary," she says. That philosophy can be seen throughout her work, whether she's capturing sunlight through trees, reflections on the water or the subtle glow falling across an everyday object.

Ballard says one of the things she has enjoyed most since moving to Fairhope is being surrounded by other artists and seeing how they interpret the same world in completely different ways. Her own favorite piece, a watercolor of ordinary roses painted more than 20 years ago, remains especially meaningful because of the way the light transforms something so familiar. These days, Ballard is less interested in perfection and more interested in playing, experimenting and simply enjoying the process. Her advice to aspiring artists is much the same: "Don't listen to the inner jerk in your head. Keep going. Keep doing it, and play." For Ballard, that playful spirit extends beyond the studio—she says she feels the same sense of joy when painting, gardening and spending time with her grandkids. These days, she balances her creative work with her part-time role as a custom picture framer at Lyons Share Art Gallery, where she remains surrounded by the art and artists that have been such an important part of her life.

Source: Editor

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