Rome, Dalton, Cartersville and northwest Georgia for Augusta University NP students

Updated September 27, 2026 · Reviewed by the Augusta Preceptor placement team

Fifteen counties between metro Atlanta and the Tennessee line hold nearly a million people. The region's anchor hospital, Atrium Health Floyd in Rome, is signing no new school agreements, yet its active list includes Augusta University; the rest of a search runs through AdventHealth, Vitruvian Health, Piedmont, Wellstar and a thin set of health centers.

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Find a preceptor in northwest Georgia

Tell us your town, your track and your next clinical course, and your placement advisor maps practices within your driving range.

13 of 15counties designated in full as low-income primary care shortage areas (HRSA)

979,778people in the region in July 2025, up 7.0% on 2020 (Census)

Fifteen counties from Paulding to the state line

The Northwest Georgia Regional Commission spans Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Walker and Whitfield counties. Paulding, on the metro Atlanta edge, is the largest at 190,996, ahead of Bartow, Whitfield and Floyd.

Rome (38,934), Dalton (35,322) and Cartersville (25,349) are the main cities, with Calhoun, Dallas, Fort Oglethorpe and Cedartown next. Rome is roughly 220 driving miles from downtown Augusta. Chattooga, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon and Polk are nonmetro under the USDA's 2023 codes, home to 192,520 people, about one resident in five.

Atrium Health Floyd: an active agreement and a moratorium

Atrium Health Floyd, part of Advocate Health since Atrium's December 2022 combination with Advocate Aurora Health, runs Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in Rome and Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, alongside the affiliated Harbin Clinic physician group. Its APP student page on ACEMAPP requires an active clinical education affiliation agreement with the student's school and states that a moratorium on new agreements is in place.

The spreadsheet of active agreements on that page shows "Augusta University, PA, NP", dated from January 1, 2024 and renewing on its own; on the Harbin Clinic side, the Augusta University line covers PA only. The list records a contract between institutions; it does not describe how any student reaches a preceptor at Floyd, so ask your course faculty how it bears on your course.

Floyd's process itself is strict. APP applications go in at least three months ahead, in windows that close October 1 for rotations starting in January, February 1 for those starting in May and May 31 for those starting in September. Applicants are asked not to call Floyd or Harbin physicians, APPs or facilities, Floyd's own teammates in approved programs get priority, and each application carries one preceptor, with a section for a rotation already secured.

AdventHealth, Vitruvian Health, Piedmont and Wellstar

AdventHealth runs three hospitals here: AdventHealth Redmond in Rome, acquired from HCA on October 1, 2021, AdventHealth Gordon in Calhoun and AdventHealth Murray in Chatsworth. In Dalton, Hamilton Medical Center kept its name when Hamilton Health Care System became Vitruvian Health in 2024. Our September 2026 research found no NP student page for either system, so both are landmarks rather than mapped routes.

Two Atlanta-based systems reach in from the south. Piedmont Cartersville and Piedmont Mountainside in Jasper follow Piedmont's ACEMAPP process, with requests taken each August, February and April according to an archived orientation page. Wellstar Paulding Medical Center in Hiram falls under Wellstar's system calendar, with NP applications due November 15, March 30 and June 30.

Shortage labels and the health center gap

HRSA designates 13 of the 15 counties in full for their low-income residents' primary care; only Paulding and Pickens lack a geographic or population designation. Chattooga and Floyd score highest at 18. For mental health, every county falls inside a geographic shortage area grouped by catchment: Lookout Mountain for Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker; Georgia Highlands for Fannin, Gilmer, Murray, Pickens and Whitfield; Highland Rivers Community Service Board for Bartow, Floyd, Gordon, Paulding and Polk; Haralson on its own. HRSA has proposed all four for withdrawal, so read them as current but under review.

Health centers are sparse. HRSA's file shows 21 service sites, eight school-based and one mobile van, and none at all in Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Paulding, Polk or Whitfield. Primary Health Care Center of Dade runs 10 sites from Trenton and Rossville to Fort Oglethorpe and Summerville, and Georgia Mountains Health Services six in Blue Ridge, Chatsworth, Ellijay and La Fayette. So Rome, Dalton and Calhoun, three of the four largest cities, have no health center site, and a search there leans on private practices and hospital-owned clinics.

Course by course in northwest Georgia

Northwest Georgia settings for Augusta University's NP clinical courses
Track	Courses	Where to look
DNP-FNP	`NURS 8312`, `NURS 8315`, `NURS 8318`	Family practices in Rome, Dalton, Calhoun and Cartersville; health center sites in Dade, Catoosa and Walker for mixed-age panels
DNP-AGACNP	`NURS 8332` to `NURS 8338`	Hospital teams at Floyd, Redmond, Hamilton, Piedmont Cartersville and Wellstar Paulding, each on its own process
DNP-PNP	`NURS 8322` to `NURS 8328`	Pediatric offices in the larger cities; the eight school-based health center sites
DNP-PMHNP	`NURS 8342` to `NURS 8348`	Community service board programs and private psychiatric groups that can offer child or adolescent and adult groups
Every track	`NURS 9192`, 240 hours	One preceptor near home for the final practicum

A Rome or Dalton address fits Augusta University's residence requirement, which keeps NP and certificate students in Georgia or South Carolina because instructors travel to each student's preceptor and site (the residence rule). Georgia NP practice covers the protocol agreements your preceptor works under.

Why northwest Georgia students turn to us

Here timing decides most placements: Floyd's windows close a season ahead, and three of the largest cities have no health center to fall back on. However your program handles placement, your placement advisor maps private practices across all 15 counties, checks that each preceptor holds a Georgia license and APRN authorization, and times every hospital application to its window. How it works shows the steps.

Questions Augusta University students ask

What does Atrium Health Floyd's agreement list say about Augusta University?

It shows an active agreement for "Augusta University, PA, NP" from January 1, 2024, renewing automatically, at a time when Floyd is signing no new agreements. The list does not describe how a preceptor is arranged, and Floyd still applies its application windows, teammate priority and no-call request to every student. Ask your course faculty how the agreement fits your course.

Can I call Harbin Clinic providers about precepting?

Floyd's page asks applicants not to call its physicians, APPs or any Atrium Health Floyd or Harbin Clinic facility about an application, and Harbin Clinic's Augusta University agreement is listed for PA students only. Practices outside the Floyd and Harbin network set their own terms, and your placement advisor handles that outreach for you.

Where are the community health centers in northwest Georgia?

HRSA lists 21 sites, mostly in the north and east: Primary Health Care Center of Dade in Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker, Georgia Mountains Health Services in Fannin, Gilmer, Murray and Walker, and single networks in Jasper, Ringgold and Cartersville. Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Paulding, Polk and Whitfield have none.

From a home near the border, can I train in Tennessee or Alabama?

Augusta University's published rule names Georgia and South Carolina only, and its certificate page describes clinical experiences in those two states alone. A site over the Tennessee or Alabama border would also bring that state's licensing rules, making it a question for your course faculty first. Our NP searches here stay on the Georgia side.

How early should a Rome or Dalton student start?

Work back from the earliest window. Floyd wants APP applications at least three months ahead, closing October 1 for January starts; Wellstar's spring deadline is November 15; Piedmont takes spring requests in August. Starting the preceptor search two terms before the course leaves room for those dates and for the site checks that follow.

GuideGeorgia regionsClinical guides for all of Georgia: Augusta and the CSRA, metro Atlanta, the mountains, Athens, Macon, Columbus, Albany, Valdosta and the coast.Augusta University systemGeorgia and South Carolina ruleAugusta University NP students must live in Georgia or South Carolina so faculty can visit. The exact wording, the programs it names, the state line and moving.Augusta University systemPlacement processWhat Augusta University publishes about NP clinicals, step by step: residence, compliance, the paid tracking system, course order, faculty visits and grading.Augusta University systemGeorgia NP practiceHow Georgia's nurse protocol agreements, delegating physicians and prescribing limits shape who precepts Augusta University NP students and how a clinic runs.Georgia regionMetro AtlantaEmory, Northside, Grady, Wellstar and Piedmont student rules, 83 health center sites and shortage pockets, matched to Augusta University's four NP tracks.Georgia regionGeorgia MountainsGainesville, Toccoa, Dahlonega and the north Georgia mountains for Augusta University NP students: NGHS, MedLink sites, shortage areas and course matches.

Last checked 2026-09-27

We check these pages against Augusta University's own catalog, program plans, DNP handbook and program pages, and Georgia and South Carolina rules. Your course faculty and the College of Nursing have the final word.

Whatever your program arranges, we find the preceptor who fits.

Tell us your Augusta University track, where in Georgia or South Carolina you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and Augusta University's rules, and hand you everything your faculty and the site need, well before the semester.

Adult, pediatric and older-adult preceptors for NURS 8312 to NURS 8318, acute care for NURS 8332 to NURS 8338
Pediatric primary care for the PNP courses and psychiatric preceptors for NURS 8342 to NURS 8348
Across Georgia and South Carolina, from the CSRA to Savannah, Atlanta and Columbia

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