AMERICUS — Keith Petersen views Americus as an engaged

community



By BETH ALSTON

beth.alston@gaflnews.com

americustimesrecorder.com



AMERICUS — Newly appointed CEO of Phoebe Sumter Medical Center and former interim, Keith Petersen met with the Times-Recorder Wednesday to talk about what’s going on with the existing facility and the new hospital.

At present, in the wake of the Nov. 2 groundbreaking ceremony, Petersen says that trees have been cleared and infrastructure work (gas lines, water lines, electricity) needs to be accomplished prior to actual construction starting.

He said the three medical office buildings are expected to be up and running by this time next year. Of those, one will house obstetrics, gynecology, pediatrics and family practice while another will house oncology and general surgeons, and the third, orthopedics, wellness, fitness and education.

While the new four-story, 76-bed state of the art medical facility is under construction, the existing medical center on Forsyth Street continues to provide medical services. Some layoffs occurred between the time of the March 2007 tornado and the partnership with Phoebe, and some of those jobs have come back, according to Petersen.

“We’ve hired some people back who were laid off, some laid off about a year ago. We’ve changed our staffing a little bit to bring some of those workers back, certified nursing assistants, some ward clerks and some RNs for various shifts,” he said.

Some doctors left the community in the wake of the destruction of Sumter Regional Hospital in March 2007, but some are coming back now and more will find the new hospital a good incentive to return when it is completed in late 2011/early 2012.

“With our hospitalist group, Dr. Frank Wilson (IV), Dr. Rick Oster and Cathy Hudson have returned,” he said, adding that Phoebe Sumter is in conversations with others about possibly returning.

He did say that John and Patti Fennessy will be in Americus in August 2010 to practice medicine, the former being an orthopedic surgeon and the latter an OB-GYN.

“Now orthopedic is all being shipped to Albany, so this will be huge for us,” he said. Petersen also mentioned Jeremy Joyner who recently returned to Americus to join his father, Doug Joyner in the practice of general surgery.

Though surgeries are currently being performed at Phoebe Sumter and babies are being born there, the emergency room is also kept busy.

“We’ve had a challenge ... with the amount of time it takes to get in and out of the ER and we’re working very hard to be more efficient and more effective. That’s a long-term project ... We want to be able to serve people quickly who may or may not really need to be in the emergency room or have a minor ailment or illness so we can move them in and out. That’s a huge project,” Petersen said, adding that the way the temporary hospital is constructed makes it challenging.

Some of the observations that Petersen has made over the last several months since being named interim CEO on July 1 when Phoebe Putney Health System took over management of the hospital, include the workforce, including the management team.

“We have a tremendous workforce. We have many, many great employees who are very excited about not only us being here, but excited about the future ... Our management team has really done a good job of stepping up as we’ve looked at a variety of issues over the last several months, from recruitment issues, staffing issues to management team issues, they’ve done a tremendous job ... We’re looking at more effective, more efficient ways of doing things all the way from the emergency room to purchasing to buying smarter ... just smarter in everything we do, and the whole team has stepped up,” he said.

About the community, Petersen also has high praise. “The community’s been tremendous. The support that we’ve received has been enthusiastic and at times, almost overwhelming,” he said, pointing out the turn-out at the recent groundbreaking. He said Phoebe is quite impressed with the number of citizens who attended. “It was awesome, the show of community support, from all across the community.”

Petersen says he encounters people all over town who are enthusiastic about Phoebe and the new hospital. He said he even runs into people whom he doesn’t know, who know who he is and they often ask meaningful and engaging questions. “They are very enthusiastic and very positive about our plans ... they ask questions ... This really shows me what kind of community Americus is, that it’s an involved community, supportive, involved but curious in a good way,” he said, using the Chamber of Commerce as an example. “The Chamber is so enthusiastic, about everything, not just the hospital,” he said.

As for the former site of Sumter Regional Hospital and the current site of the temporary Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, Petersen says those properties are owned by the Americus-Sumter County Hospital Authority, which is “looking for alternatives.” He said discussions have begun on the possibility of a behavioral medicine program, and some desire to have a park on the former site or a building relating the Georgia Southwestern State University and the preservation of the Wheatley House, but there’s nothing concrete at this time.

Petersen reiterated again and again his impressions of the community, the involvement and positivity, citing examples of Phoebe’s recent Men’s Health Fair which drew about 500 participants and the success of the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk.

“I’m excited about where we are here (at the current facility). The first challenge I faced here was dealing with current operations, and not really focusing on the new building ... My focus is more on the current operations while our Phoebe team is focused on the new construction.”

Petersen said mock-ups of a patient room, ICU and CCU rooms will soon be available for inspection by the public in the former Baldwin Agency building downtown.

Petersen and Marcus Johnson, director of public relations, said they are available to speak at civic organizations on the Phoebe Sumter partnership and noted their Website phoebesumter.org

But Petersen sees more to the role of the Phoebe Sumter organization than just providing health care. He says the organization will be “a machine in economic development” for the area. “We’ll work together with Georgia Southwestern and South Georgia Tech to do our part to drive economic development.”

Petersen said Phoebe Sumter currently employs 340 employees.