Albert K. Blackwelder has served Emory Healthcare for more than 30 years, and is currently chief operating officer for Emory's Wesley Woods Center, one of the largest, most complex centers for geriatric care, assisted living and research in Georgia.  
Blackwelder, who earned a bachelor's from Brown University and an MBA from Georgia State University, has served as chief operating officer at Wesley Woods since Jan. 1, 2007. Prior to accepting the leadership role for Wesley Woods, Blackwelder served as chief operating officer for Emory Crawford Long Hospital -- a position he held since 1994.

A large, wooded complex on 64 acres located on Clifton Road in DeKalb County, Wesley Woods Center includes Wesley Woods Hospital, a 100-bed geriatric specialty facility serving more than 30,000 older adults and chronically ill individuals each year. Within Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital, there is an 18-bed long-term, acute care hospital. In addition to the hospital, in conjunction with VistaCare, there is a 25-bed inpatient hospice unit. WWC offers the community a primary care clinic, a 250-bed skilled nursing care facility (Budd Terrace), and a 201-unit independent living facility (Wesley Woods Towers) with one floor of assisted living. Wesley Woods Center also includes management of the Wesley Woods Senior Living, Inc. that owns and manages, through its affiliate corporations, seven senior living facilities in North Georgia.

WWC is well known for its inpatient, outpatient, and day hospitalization programs in late life depression, sleep disorders, and rehabilitation. Additional strengths are in primary care assessment of the elderly, management of and research on Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases. In addition to the WWC complex, Wesley Woods Senior Living, Inc, includes seven senior living complexes across Georgia:

• Asbury Harris Epworth Towers - Atlanta
• Branan Lodge/Wesley Mountain Village - Blairsville
• Branan Towers - Atlanta
• Lanier Gardens/Talmage Terrace - Athens
• St. John Towers - Augusta
• Wesley Woods of Newnan-Peachtree City - Newnan
• Wesley Woods Towers -- Atlanta