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Regional hospital said still good idea
The City of Thomasville is also seeking improvement of their hospital facilities. This is a change from efforts a few years ago by officials from the different communities in Clarke County to establish a regional hospital. Approximately $80,000 was spent on a feasibility study in the past, said Doug Sewell, administrator of Grove Hill Memorial Hospital. There had even been talk of putting a hospital just north of Grove Hill. "Once it came down to where the one hospital was going to be," then talk faded away, he explained. The site for a regional hospital has to be in just the right place for "sole community provider status so you can maximize your reimbursement," Sewell said. "You've got to be 35 miles farther than the nearest facility. There's only one certain place in this county that it will fit." The pending construction of the ThyssenKrupp steel plant 35 miles south of Jackson has prompted that city to want to expand its services, and Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day says a better facility is needed in his city to serve the citizens of north Clarke County, southern Marengo County, and western Wilcox County. Sewell said that any talk of a regional hospital is "back to square one." The resulting competition for customers in the county by three major hospitals would be "the worst thing that could happen." The duplication of services would be an issue, and Sewell said the three facilities could not offer enough specialized services. "We think we are already a modern, upto date facility that is underutilized," Sewell told Grove Hill hospital board members. "As long as you have three hospitals in the county, you are going to be underutilized in some respects. "…In my personal feelings, and I've been in the business a long time, bricks and mortar do not make a hospital," he said Tuesday. "It's the people there to serve….As long as we can provide quality patient care, these people will continue to come see us. "…Quality is the only thing people care about when it comes to healthcare. However, he said, "I know that Jackson and Thomasville both are in desperate straits as far as their physical plants," he said. "They need to do something there." Sewell isn't sure if there is the political will to revisit the regional hospital concept. Both Jackson and Thomasville will have mayoral elections in 2008, and healthcare is going to be an issue. "You talk about regional concepts as far as recruiting industry," he said, "but with the three communities here, as I see it, the county line is at the end of the city limits. How can you look at the regional concept if the three larger communities in the county can't come to some sort of an agreement that 'yes, this is the best for all 27,000 people. We need one hospital.' "Every needs assessment in the world that you do says you only need one hospital to serve 27,000." In other action from the Aug. 30 hospital board meeting, the inpatient census was down for July, but the out-patient census was up a little bit. "Usually the summer is our slower time anyway," Sewell said. Sewell apologized to the board for the poor performance, but said the staff had been preparing for the auditors, and computer specialists had been on site for training. "We had some expenses we couldn't do anything about," he said. Total revenue for July was $1,879,421.32, and expenses were $883,801.12. That was higher than a year ago when revenues totaled $1,528,965.66, and expenses were $780,345.33. One silver lining, Sewell said, was the recruitment of "an adequate supply of registered nurses…. We do have a good staff….We got the pick of the litter of new graduates" (from Alabama Southern in Monroeville). The director of nurses at the Grove Hill hospital met with students at the college, Sewell said Tuesday. "The thing that really sold the nurses on Grove Hill is not only do they get exposure in all areas of healthcare, which is kind of unique nowadays...(but also) they have almost like a buddy system. They pair one of the newer graduates with one of the experienced nurses for a good while until they feel comfortable in their new role." The following new medical staff members were approved by the board: Kevin Johnson at Fulton Healthcare; and Hunter Nelson, Bradley Peters and Mary Carolyn Wilson, consulting TeleRadiologists who review film for the hospital.
A membership breakfast for the hospital auxiliary will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 26 in the hospital cafeteria. There will also be the annual auxiliary bridge tournament on Oct. 13 at the Southern Magnolia Restaurant, and a golf tournament is planned for November.
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