Cook County EDC | Community plans replacement facility for Hospital

Community plans replacement facility for Hospital

Article Source Link By: Charles Shiver

The Cook County Community Stakeholders group has been formed to work on planning for a replacement facility for Cook Medical Center, Cook Senior Living Center, and the Sylvia Barr Center.

The Community Stakeholders will seek “to secure grants and other funding sources for a conceptual plan for the replacement facility,” said Cook Medical Center CEO Michael Purvis. “We have reviewed several funding options and are in the process of site selection. We are looking at multiple sites to find the location that best fits our needs for a replacement facility. Funding, physician engagement, and land acquisition are the determining factors for the timeline of this project’s completion.”

The current hospital location is landlocked and doesn’t provide the best access for people seeking medical care, Purvis said, adding that a better location would be on or near a main highway or at one of the I-75 exits in Adel.

A new location would better serve not only patients from Adel, but also increasing numbers of patients from Nashville, Hahira, the eastern parts of Colquitt County, and north Cook County, Purvis explained. “We will have new specialists and physicians in a new facility that is accessible to all directions from Adel.”

The Community Stakeholders group is scheduled to meet at least once a month, and is currently meeting on an asneeded basis as planning for the replacement facility progresses.

Members of the group include: Jimmy Allen, chairman, Tift Hospital Authority; Richard Barr, secretary-treasurer, Cook County Economic Development Commission (EDC); Lisa Collins, director of economic development; Michael Dinnerman, Cook County Commission vice chairman, EDC; Brent Dixon, member, EDC; Chris Dorman, COO, Tift Regional Health System; Buddy Duke, mayor, City of Adel, and chairman, EDC; Chris Efaw, vice president, Tift Regional Medical Center Outreach and Development; Adel City Manager John Flythe; Kimberly Hobbs, Community & Economic Development, Southern Georgia Regional Commission; Cook County Administrator Faye Hughes; County Commission Chairman Jeff Lane (also EDC member); Howard McClain, Superior Court Judge and EDC member; Misty Peterson, consultant to navigate USDA loan application process for the City and County; Michael Purvis; William Richardson, CEO, Tift Regional Health System; Quinton Robinson, Esq., United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, State Director of Georgia; Beth Ryther, Cook Medical Center, Director of Physician Clinics and Customer Service; and Jerome Tucker, consultant for the City of Adel and chairman of the Farm Service Agency for the State of Georgia. (Tucker will serve as a liaison between local government and federal constituents.)

Purvis said he is thankful for the long work hours that community leaders are putting into planning for the replacement facility.

He also expressed appreciation to the Adel City Council and Cook County Commission, which voted unanimously recently to help support the project financially by pledging funds for indigent care. Earlier this year, the County Commission unanimously passed a resolution to allocate an annual amount of $250,000 of the county government’s general fund budget to Cook Medical Center for 20 years, beginning October 1, 2015.

The Adel City Council also voted to provide funding to Cook Medical Center not to exceed $2 million to use for improvements in the hospital’s medical facilities. These funds will be paid for over a 20-year period.

“We are working on agreements with the City of Adel and County to secure those resolutions,” Purvis said.

Cook Medical Center provides $6 million a year for indigent and charity care. The funds provided by the City and County will help offset those expenditures, allowing the hospital to reinvest funds into the replacement facility.