Tag Archives: hospital

Videos: Appointments to Hospital Authority and Parks and Rec + well pump @ LCC 2017-07-11



Two Regular Sessions back,
they started with a moment of silence for Mike Everett, recently deceased employee
of the Public Works department.
The

obituary in the VDT, 14 July 2014,

Michael Thomas Everett, a senior heavy equipment operator with
Lowndes county and long time resident of Berrien County, GA, died
unexpectedly on July 9, 2017 at the age of 58 at his home. Mike was
born in Miami, Florida on December 29, 1958 to Hermon J. Everett and
Mary C. Everett both deceased and is survived by his loving
Step-Mother Nora N. Everett. Mike also known as Mr. Mike to many of
his close friends and co-workers was an avid race car fan, loved
cooking, enjoyed tending to his many gardens. He also loved music
and often played guitar with family and friends. He was a magnet for
all dogs taking great care of any that showed up on his doorstep.
Mike was a very kind and generous man who will be deeply missed by
his family, close neighbors, friends, co-workers and all who knew
him. There is no service scheduled at this time.

No surprise on the

pump or
for the

Hospital Authority,
but news about Ashley Paulk and

VLPRA.
They approved everything else unanimously, as they usually do.

Below are links to each LAKE video, with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist.
See also the agenda.
There are no LAKE videos of the previous morning’s Work Session,
because, they moved it half an hour early and didn’t send a notification.
But there is a blog post about one Commissioner’s response to that.
The county apparently does video its work sessions, but not that one,
and not this Regular Session, either.

Continue reading →

Videos: Appointments to Hospital Authority and Parks and Rec + well pump @ LCC 2017-07-10

Nope, there are no LAKE videos of yesterday morning’s Work Session,
because, remember,

they moved the meeting half an hour earlier so when Gretchen showed up it was already over.
The county does not video its Work Sessions, so there is no county video, either.
Since the Valdosta Daily Times apparently did not run a story (I don’t even know if they had a reporter there),
this means you won’t know what the Commissioners discussed nor who else was there Monday morning before they vote this evening at 5:30 PM.


Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson welcomes new 23d Wing Commander Col. Jennifer Short at the July 10 Change of Command ceremony.

City of Valdosta PR 2017-07-10:

Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson welcomes new 23d Wing Commander Col. Jennifer Short at the July 10 Change of Command ceremony.

Commissioner Scottie Orenstein asked, on facebook, in response to

yesterday’s LAKE blog post about the moved meeting: Continue reading →

You missed it: Appointments to Hospital Authority and Parks and Rec + well pump @ LCC 2017-07-10

They moved the meeting half an hour earlier, to 8AM.
Gretchen, who is signed up to the county’s alert system yet never got any alert about this time change,
got there at the usual time and it was over already.
It’s listed in their calendar as “8:00 AM – 8:35 AM” but she got there
with the LAKE camera before 8:30 and it was already over.


Look closely: 8:00 AM, not 8:30 AM

And on the agenda:
two county appointments for the same Hospital Authority that hired a CEO for five years,
fired him without cause after two years, and now: Continue reading →

Proactively make mental health a priority –Joyce Weaver Johnson

Blogged with permission from

Joyce’s facebook page. -jsq

Ok, I rarely do this but after reading something on FB earlier, I
just have to because I feel SO strongly about it! I have been a
social worker for 28 years. Of the 28 years, I have spent almost 15
years in the mental health field. When I started with community
mental health services, I was told the patient was the #1 priority
and QUALITY of service was most important.

Through the years MH
services have been significantly cut with treatment facilities for
youth closing, mental health hospitals closing and HMOs refusing to
pay for more and more outpatient services. Now the #1 priority is
BILLING and treating the paperwork not the patient is most
important.


When treatment facilities and hospitals were closed, we
were told Continue reading →

Rural hospitals closing

A state that forces hospital closings by refusing Medicare expansion
while spending a billion dollars a year on locking up too many
prisoners has its priorities wrong.

Tom Baxter wrote for SaportaReport yesterday,

Ominous signs for rural Georgia as hospitals shut their doors,



Lewis forecast at the beginning of the year that five to six rural
hospitals might be forced to close in 2013, and already there have
been two.

Calhoun Memorial Hospital in Arlington closed in February,
and

Stewart-Webster Hospital in Richland shut its doors last week.

That’s only a foretaste, Lewis says, of what’s going to happen when
the Affordable Care Act next year eliminates the

subsidies which
have been key to the survival of many of these hospitals, and
imposes new standards — for instances, penalizing hospitals
for readmitting patients in less than 30 days — which will
directly impact their bottom line.

“We will probably get hurt worse than any state in the
nation,” Lewis said last week. “It’s not like we will be
friendly faces to the feds, and they’re going to come in and do
major damage to us. ” He’s certainly not an enthusiastic fan
of Obamacare, but thinks the state has no choice but to accept the
Medicaid expansion which was intended as compensation for what the
new law takes away.

“With Obamacare coming down the pike, if we don’t get some
kind of relief in (Medicaid) expansion, we will face certain
death,” Lewis said last week.

Ah, so the problem isn’t ObamaCare: it’s Gov. Deal’s refusal to
accept Medicaid expansion!
The AJC warned us about that back in August:

Continue reading →

Fire on U.S. 122, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 August 2012

Deputy watching fire A house burned down this morning on US 122 east of the Boys Ranch. Multiple Lowndes County Fire and Rescue trucks were there, one from as far away as Shiloh, plus Moody Fire Emergency Services, an SGMC Paramedic Unit, and a Sheriff’s deputy directing traffic. The location was 5522 E Highway 122.

Here’s Part 1 of 3:

Fire on U.S. 122, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 August 2012 Part 1 of 3:
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia, 7 August 2012.

The SGMC unit appeared to have nothing to do,

Continue reading →

SGMC asks Lowndes County Commission to guarantee $100 M in bonds 10 October 2011

Commissioners asked some perceptive questions
two weeks ago at their work session,
as well they should, when South Georgia Medical Center
was asking the county to guarantee a hundred million dollars in bonds.
Some questions may remain.

Representatives from SGMC gave a two part presentation


about expansion of SGMC facilities, to include 96 new
private rooms in the Dasher Heart Center, the 5 story
parking deck, now under construction and due to be completed
in early 2012, and Life Safety and Generator Equipment updates.

Additionally, they spoke briefly on the acquisition of Smith Northview
Hospital on September 1, 2011. Smith Northview operates
as a campus of SGMC and all Smith Northview employees are now
SGMC employees.

The second part of the presentation was about the financial

Continue reading →

SGMC, Comprehensive Plan, and 4-H at County Commission, 10-11 October 2011

The previous Lowndes County Commission meetings of two weeks ago
featured in the work session:



6. Resolution – SGMC Revenue Certificates

Here’s
a playlist for the work session of 10 October 2011.

And in the regular session:

7.b. Greater Lowndes 2030 Comprehensive Plan Updates – Lowndes County Report of
Accomplishments (ROA) and Short Term Work Program (STWP)

Oh, yes, and this seemingly innocuous PR item:



4. 4-H Presentation

Here’s
a playlist for the regular session of 11 October 2011.
More posts to follow on these items.

Here’s the agenda.


LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2011, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

  1. Call to Order

  2. Invocation

  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

  4. 4-H Presentation

  5. Minutes for Approval

    1. Work Session — September 26, 2011

    2. Regular Session — September 27, 2011
  6. Resolution – SGMC Revenue Certificates

  7. Public Hearing

    1. REZ-2011-13, Fred’s Dept. Store, 4401 Bemiss Rd., 145c-90a, 2.0 ac., water/sewer, C-H(c)
      & C- G(c) to C-G

    2. Greater Lowndes 2030 Comprehensive Plan Updates — Lowndes County Report of
      Accomplishments (ROA) and Short Term Work Program (STWP)
  8. For Consideration

    1. Lowndes County Jail Administration HVAC — Change Order

    2. Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Capital Contract

    3. Fluke Network OptiView XG
  9. Reports-County Manager

  10. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

SGMC absorbs Smith Northview Hospital

What could that $55 million or that $100 million have been used for
that would have improved medical care around here?

Kay Harris wrote for the VDT yesterday,

SGMC acquisition of Smith Northview official:



Beginning today, Smith Northview is an official campus of South Georgia
Medical Center.

Officials from the Hospital Authority of Valdosta-Lowndes County and
Ameris Health Systems gathered Wednesday at SGMC to sign the paperwork
together to finalize the sale.

SGMC purchased Smith Northview for $55 million, with no assumption of
debt. Hospital Authority Attorney Walter H. New said the purchase was
financed through an 18-month bridge loan, which is anticipated to be paid
in full in December when SGMC is expected to have a $100 million bond
issue to pay for current and future projects on the main hospital campus.

Interim CEO for Smith Northview, Shamb Purohit, said, “This is a
wonderful moment and we need to celebrate it.”

Yeah, well, he’s paid to say that.
I say it’s a sad day.
First Smith Hospital moved from Hahira

Continue reading →

Hospital Authority



Who approved the $40 million purchase of Smith Northview Hospital by
South Georgia Medical Center (SGMC)?
The Valdosta-Lowndes County Hospital Authority.
Who is that?

Let’s look on their web pages.
We would, if they had any.
Let’s try the

Valdosta city web pages:
the link to Hospital Authority gets 404 not found.


How about the
Lowndes County web pages? Don’t be silly! The Lowndes County government
doesn’t provide links to any of the 20+ boards and authorities to which
it appoints members.

So where can we find a list of who’s on this board?
Why,

SGMC:

Continue reading →