Coffee Regional Medical Center

Description

Coffee Regional Medical Center Inc operates a nonprofit acute care hospital in Douglas GA The new facility which opened in 1998 replaced the original facility constructed in Coffee Co in 1953 The 170000 square foot facility is designed with 88 inpatient beds and expanded outpatient service areas to promote multilevel patient care CRMC was awarded quotHospital of the Year 20012002quot by the GA Alliance of Community Hospitals quotGeorgia Rural Hospital of the Yearquot 20002001 and most recently received the quotBest in Value Awardquot from Data Advantage LLC for our achievements in quality affordability efficiency and patient satisfaction

History

Serving our community since 1953

Douglas and Coffee County grew rapidly during the late 1800s and early 1900s Trained medical care had been limited to the efforts of Dr Jefferson Wilcox and Dr William Sibbett who arrived in Coffee County in the late 1800s in the wake of the typhoid epidemic Before that families had to make do with home remedies and the occasional quotherb doctorquot According to local history one of the earliest settlers to Coffee County was Dr John Barber who resided in Douglas for 18 years and open Coffee Countys first hospital albeit a temporary one in 1862 in his home to combat an outbreak of small pox

In 1908 Dr Charles Roberts and Dr Will Sibbett organized the effort that would build and open the Douglas Surgical Institute The Infirmary opened in 1909 in the building now used as the Courthouse Annex At a cost of 18000 funding was raised by prominent citizens including Dr Roberts Dr Welchel and Dr Terrell Mr BH Tanner and Mr John Marshall Ashley The infirmary opened with 30 beds and a staff of two nurses The infirmary closed its doors in 1916 leaving Douglas without a hospital

Following the virulent influenza pandemic in 1918 Dr Thomas Clark and Dr John Smith began to plan for a new hospital In 1922 the two doctors leased the second floor of the Dent Building purchased modern hospital equipment and announced that any local doctor could use the facility The new ClarkSmith sanitarium was very busy and expanded to include other floors In 1928 after several years of treating indigent care without outside financial support the doctors had to close the sanitarium

By 1932 the Douglas Public Health Department was recognized by the state for a vigorous health campaign that all but wiped out typhoid fever malaria and diphtheria in the areas which include Coffee Jeff Davis Bacon and Atkinson counties In February of 1932 two nurses remodeled a home on the corner of Madison and Jefferson now the sight of Beckys Antiques Mrs Carolyn Bailey of Athens and Miss Francis lance of Blairsville The LanceBailey Clinic sometimes called the Douglas Hospital opened March 1932 The small medical clinic continued for a couple of years and paved the way for the first real hospital in Coffee County

In 1934 the City of Douglas represented by Mayor Lonnie Pope and Dr WL Hall donated land on East Ward Street for construction of the new Douglas Hospital The building was constructed by RN McEachren of Valdosta a former Douglas resident who had built the AshleySlater home This building later housed the public library and the Board of Education and currently serves as the Alternative School At a final cost of 30000 the facility opened in June 1935 Within one decade this hospital became overcrowded and needed expansion In 1946 recognizing a need for expanded hospital facilities a new Hospital Commission was created with representation through the county Within days the commission became the Coffee County Hospital Authority and the began to seek federal funds through the recently passed HillBurton Act that required local matching funds The bonds issue requesting taxpayers provide local matching funds was placed on the ballot in June of 1949 where it passed overwhelmingly The Authority membership at this time included representation from Coffee County Luther Roberts Lonnie A Pope Steve Davis and NE Holton who would be named chairman and from the City of Douglas representation Dan G Clough Marvin J Williams Charles Anderson Emmett Roberts and Andrew Tanner

The new facility located on West Ward Street would be a threestory 60 bed structure The construction completed in 1953 at a cost of almost one million dollars The ribbon cutting was held October 11 1953 with Herman Talmadge as the keynote speaker Gov Talmadge dedicated the building by saying quotit is not only one of the most beautiful but also the most modern and best equipped hospitals in the countryquot He added quotYour hospital here shows what is possible with cooperationquot

Renovations continued each decade adding more beds and modern technology In early 1968 the name changed to Coffee General Hospital And by 1975 there were 155 beds and intensive care unit and an emergency room Administrative and diagnostic radiology wings were added in 1983 completing the expansion on the 1953 building

In the late 1980s Acute Health Care building codes changed to the extent it was difficult for a facility built in the 1950s to keep up Early in the 1990s it was decided to explore the feasibility of replacing the 1953 building

In the spring of 1994 the hospital Authority voted to restructure Coffee Regional by forming a community based nonprofit corporation As then Authority Chairman Norman Fletcher stated quotThe new nonprofit corporate structure with allow the hospital to be financially selfsufficient and be legally independent from the county thus protecting the taxpayers from future liability for the hospitalquot The Authority included Norman Fletcher Chairman Arthur Johnson Vicechair Tullis Allen Krishnan Chalam MD Farrell Harper Jon Lott and Voncile Mille The vision of this group was the catalyst for the construction of the new Medical Center

The current Medical Center that opened in June of 1998 is 170000 square feet and is approximately fifty percent bigger that the 1953 structure

This all brings us to the New Millennium All that has gone before has prepared us for today Coffee Regional Medical Centers efforts can be summed up within its Mission Statement quotMission Statementquot To be the recognized regional center of health care excellence in South Georgia through the promotion of health and the delivery of health related services We will work as a community partner providing quality costeffective personal and progressive health care

According the Mr George Heck PresidentCEO quotToday we are one of the most technically advanced facilities of our kind in the State of Georgia In addition we are the only new medical center built in Georgia in the 1990s Our digital technology allows us confer with other medical professionals wither across the street or across the country We have over 700 health professionals to service the regional and we are prepared to grow with our community

Coffee Regional Medical Center has positioned itself for the twenty first century We recognize in order to have a strong community the health care system must remain strong The Medical Center is committed to health and wellness in our regionquot

This history of healthcare in the region reflects the publics commitment to improvementquot states CRMC Chairman Jim Cottingham quotWith continues community support the future is brightquot