November 2008
Sumter Regional leaders give away the Hospital
Staff Reports
The Americus and Sumter County Hospital Authority, at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 22, will conduct a public hearing at Sumter Bank & Trust regarding the terms of its lease and joint venture with
Phoebe Putney to build a new Americus Hospital.But according to a precondition of the lease, the hospital will not be built in the same location as the former tornado-ravaged hospital, which was located off East Forsyth Street near downtown Americus.
And the new location will have a minimum of 76 beds as opposed to the former hospital that was licensed to operate 150.
Dr. John Marshall, former head of the area NAACP and Americus-Sumter Observer publisher said, “They don’t have to get rid of the hospital; they can just make it smaller.”
Marshall said he would like to see as many people as possible attend the Dec. 22 meeting. He said people in the community need to persuade Sumter Regional to reconsider.
“We want to alert the public that they have a chance to hold onto their hospital because once you give it away and entrust an outsider to do what you should be doing yourself, we all will live to regret this move.
Marshall also questioned why the meeting was being held so close to Christmas. This could decrease the number of citizens in attendance. When the deal is signed and Phoebe has a lease for 40 years, there is no reversing. The citizens of Sumter County are the ones to make the final approval of this deal. We need to examine the details of the agreement that Seagraves has made with Phoebe. The citizens who currently serve on the Hospital Authority, the Sumter Regional Management Board, the Sumter Regional Foundation, and the Sumter Regional Holding Company should be held accountable for allowing Seagraves to mismanage the hospital out of our control.
According to a press release issued through Phoebe, the Sumter Hospital Authority voted to accept Phoebe Health System’s letter of intent to commit at least $25 million toward the construction of a new hospital.
The former hospital was damaged in March of last year by a tornado. A makeshift hospital has been set up nearby that was given by FEMA.
Phoebe CEO Joel Wernick was out of the office Tuesday to attend a rotary meeting and could not be reached for comment. But in an article with the Albany Herald, Wernick said that the residents of the area shouldn’t worry about changing doctors or seeing people they aren’t accustomed to.
“Citizens of Sumter County and the Middle Flint Region can look forward to a progressive new hospital where they can receive critical medical care from experienced physicians and caregivers they have known for many years,” said Wernick.
David Seagraves, president and chief executive officer of Sumter Regional Hospital, said in the same article that the agreement would benefit both parties.
“This agreement will enable us to accomplish our major objectives,” Seagraves said. “In health care, we compete but we also cooperate.”
The hospital authority and Phoebe will have until Jan. 5 to finalize the agreement. That is why it is so critical for our citizens to come out and demand answers before it is too late.