Illegals on SRH board

Community leader fights for inclusion of Blacks on Sumter Regional Hospital Authority

As Sumter Regional Hospital works to rebuild its tornado-ravaged building, one local leader wants to make sure it does the right thing this time. Dr. John Marshall, former local NAACP president, said he will lead a fight to make sure the hospital ceases what he calls "discriminatory practices" of not selecting people on the Hospital Authority who are responsive to the needs of Blacks. In the wake of receiving government and private funding to rebuild, Marshall also wants better treatment of patients.
"It's difficult to justify how the government can fund a hospital that is so racist," Marshall said. "We don't believe anyone should give them funding until they clean up their act."
The hospital was ravaged in the March 1 tornado that hit Americus. It is estimated that $8.5 million in local funds will be needed to rebuilding the hospital. The resources available to the Authority through insurance, funds from Federal Emergency Management Agency and funds from the State of Georgia will not be sufficient to pay for the rebuilding of the hospital, Marshall said.
According to Michael Fennessy, hospital attorney, the Hospital Authority needs help from the county to put the funding proposal on the SPLOST referendum. "It is important to the community to get the hospital rebuilt, but we need the help of the county," Fennessy said.
So far, for the hospital's rebuilding efforts have come from Blue Cross/Blue Shield, $50,000; Cotton States, $20,000; and SRH Auxiliary, $25,000.
Sumter Regional also has received more than $23,000 from Colquitt Regional Medical Center, and more than $13,500 from Memorial Hospital of Gulfport, Miss. Citizen's Bank has donated $50,000, and Wachovia has given $50,000. Two Americus residents joined the list of contributors to Sumter Regional Hospital's Indestructible campaign by raising $7,800 to the hospital's Foundation.
Marshall, a physician in Americus for over 21 years, said the Black community should put priority on insuring that the hospital implements a fair practice policy when it comes to selecting members for the Americus and Sumter County Hospital Authority and the hospital management board. He said the Hospital Authority discriminates when it comes to selecting members for the Authority; and is operating illegally because members, whose terms have since expired, are still on the board.
One name the NAACP was able to place on the first slate of names for new members was that of John Cole Vodicka, who has worked tirelessly for peace in Southwest Georgia. Under the auspices of the Prison and Jail Project, Vodicka is a voice for justice in a rural area of Georgia in which 47,000 human beings are in prison, in jail, on probation or on parole.
Vodicka said he knows the hospital needed to implement fairer employee practices and better treatment of their patients. He added the hospital also needs to create a mechanism for residents' complaints to be voiced and dealt with. "Someone needs to be placed on the board that can make this effort," Vodicka said.
Vodicka said he is willing to serve on the board.
"I'm not someone who is used to hobnobbing with those in power, but I would certainly join the board if asked," Vodicka said.
Vodicka added he thought the county commissioners and Americus City Council needed to pay more attention to the practices of the hospital boards.
But he added that still does not preclude the fact the hospital board is working with members with expired terms.
After the first slate of names failed, the second slate was never submitted by the Sumter County Commission.
Commissioner Andrea Brooks told Dr. Marshall that she would not vote to submit the second slate of names with his name on it. When asked why not, she said, “Dr. Marshall had problems with the hospital.” “Mrs. Brooks didn’t have a problem voting to celebrate Confederate Month in Americus,” said Marshall.
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Davis disappearance solved

By HILDA MUÑOZ, The Hartford Courant
The body of a middle-aged man found floating in the Connecticut River was that of 47-year-old Leroy Davis, police said.
Davis, of Americus, Ga., was reported missing in Hartford on February 23, police said.
His body was found floating in the Connecticut River by the owner of a local marina who was getting ready for a high school crew regatta that took place later that morning.
Michael Buenaventura said that he discovered the bloated body floating in front of Seaboard Marina, which is south of the Glastonbury ferry landing, about 8:15 a.m. while preparing a finish line for the three-school Mahoney Cup Regatta.
Buenaventura, an experienced diver said that the body was easily visible from shore.
Upon making this discovery, Buenaventura said, he towed the body just downriver from the marina to a private boat slip. He said that he wanted to find a place on shore where local police could remove the body without interrupting the regatta.
"We have 600 people here, including a lot of high school students and families, and that wasn't what I wanted them to see when they showed up," Buenaventura said. "That is not the kind of thing a child should ever see."
Most of the people at the races did not know that a body had been found in the river or that a police boat patrolling just south of the finish line was part of a body recovery operation, not a safety patrol. Police waved off boaters who got too close to where the body was brought ashore.
The body was removed from the scene by police just before noon. Police had no comment on the discovery, but said that the medical examiner's office would do an autopsy today or Monday. Police said that they are also looking into reports of missing people from throughout the state.

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