VSU, SGMC Partner for New Health Building
By Rabyn Ratliff, The Valdosta Daily Times, Ga.
Jun. 19–VALDOSTA — The Valdosta-Lowndes Hospital Authority made a pledge of partnership to support Valdosta State University in the development of its long anticipated Health and Sciences Building, during its June board meeting, held Wednesday.
An undisclosed pledge amount was decided upon during executive session of the Authority Board, and approved upon re-entering into regular session. South Georgia Medical Center Chief Executive Officer James McGahee will share the announcement publicly during a media press conference today.
“We are excited about this partnership between the authority and Dr. Zaccari and the VSU staff,” said McGahee. “We believe this project is of extreme importance because it involves preparing nurses and allied personnel for the future. Already we are experiencing nursing shortages, and we will need a lot more nurses tomorrow than we do right now.”
Plans for the learning/living facility, which will include a 600-bed facility and on-site dining options, have been on the horizon for several years. The overall Health Sciences/Business Administration project, estimated at $46 million, will be supported through a joint partnership between VSU, SGMC and the Medical College of Georgia. Currently, the project is on the capital project list of the University System of Georgia. University administrators anticipate construction getting underway over the next three years.
The authority is looking toward the future of health care in other areas as well, after executive members recently returned from an executive retreat.
“We’re seeing employment in health care move more toward the U.S. employment model, wherein more and more physicians are being employed by the hospital,” McGahee said. “In the next few years, there will probably be more contractual agreements between hospitals and physicians and it appears that the federal and state government is working to make moving to the employment model more feasible.”
The summer retreat, which will now become a “quarterly meeting for members of the authority and medical executives,” according to board chairman Bill Cowart, will help to keep executive administrators/staff abreast of hospital procedures, policies and issues, as well as changing trends in the realm of health care.
“We also discussed the need for the hospital authority and medical staff to be as involved as possible with patient safety and quality of care,” said McGahee. “In looking at that, we are considering having a Chief Quality Officer, most likely, a physician, who would become a part of the management staff.”
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