Lee County boards vote to move forward with hospital project

LEESBURG — The members of three Lee County authorities — the Board of Commissioners, Hospital Authority and Development Authority — voted unanimously — minus one non-vote — at a special called joint meeting Friday to move forward with plans to build an acute care hospital of an as-yet undetermined size on the former Grand Island Golf Course property owned by the Development Authority.

County Commissioner Dennis Roland, who said, “I think the hospital is a good idea, but I don’t think putting our citizens $30 million in debt is a good idea,” was the lone member of the three authorities not to vote in favor of the proposed hospital, which will fall under the management of People’s Health System, an entity created for the new hospital and headed by Columbus-based Hughston Hospital CEO Mark Baker and CFO Chris Wiggins. The bond attorney for the project is Roger Murray.

“I’m not saying I’m for or against the hospital, but I’m not voting for it today,” Roland said.

But the unanimous votes of the Hospital and Development authorities and approval by the majority of the county commission paved the way for Baker and Wiggins to move forward with plans for a feasibility study, which is an initial step in the process.

Wiggins recommended, and the heads of the three Lee County boards acquiesced, moving forward with a binding vote after Commissioner Billy Mathis called for a “straw vote” to see if there was general approval by members of all three boards. 

“Before we can move forward, we must have approval,” Wiggins said.

The meeting was called after Hughston officials reached out to Lee County officials about building and managing a hospital in the community. The proposed Lee Medical Center facility yoyoed on and off the drawing board over a five-year period during which Lee officials received a then-necessary Certificate of Need required for the construction of such facilities in the state. But when delays — some weather-related, and then in the wake of the COVID pandemic — forced Lee officials to ask for extensions of the CON on three separate occasions — two of which were approved — the state Department of Community Health finally revoked the certificate.

With the project apparently dead in the water, the state Legislature breathed new life into the Lee hospital plan when it passed a law during the 2024 session that determined counties with less than 50,000 residents did not have to acquire a CON to build a health care facility.

“It was virtually impossible for us to build a hospital under the old CON law,” Mathis, an attorney who was chairman of the Lee Commission during past efforts to move the project forward, said. “But we’re exempt from any CON consideration now. We only need certification from the state saying we have less than 50,000 residents in the county. Folks, that’s a huge burden off our backs.

“I can’t stress how important that CON law change is to this project. Now, the CON law doesn’t apply to us. If we have less than 50,000 people, we can just build a hospital.”

Commission Chairman Luke Singletary outlined the financial strategy for the project, which included an outlay of $128 million in bonds that would come with “no liability to the county,” and $30 million in bonds that will be required of the Lee Hospital Authority. Singletary said that funds for those bonds, which is projected to cost around $1.8 million a year, would likely be repaid by proceeds from hospital operations.

“This puts skin in the game for the county,” Mathis said. “It also will provide operating capital until the facility is up and running.”

Speakers at the hearing took pains not to criticize Phoebe Putney Health Systems, which initially opposed the Lee CON. Dr. Bruce Houston, who is chairman of the Lee Hospital Authority, said there is a need for more health care options in the region.

“I want to stress that no one here is anti-Phoebe,” Houston said. “We’re not in competition with Phoebe. They’re a fine facility, and we need them. But there should be more health care options and more options for physicians coming to the region.”

Baker reiterated the need for health care competition in southwest Georgia.

“At Hughston, we embrace competition,” the hospital system CEO said. “We’ve been in the middle of competition for 75 years. What it comes down to, essentially, is delivery. One thing I’ve learned in business is that diminished competition breeds mediocrity.”

Added Mathis: “We’re not anti-anything. We just want better health care.”

Phoebe Health Care President/CEO Scott Steiner said the Albany-based hospital has been a constant in southwest Georgia for more than a century and would continue to be so.

“For 113 years, Phoebe has been THE community hospital for our area,” Steiner said. “We invest in services, facilities, programs, technology and people to serve our community’s health care needs, and we will continue to do so. For generations, our community has turned to Phoebe in good times and bad. Phoebe remains a constant in this community – a place where families start, where loved ones get well and where compassionate and capable experts give their patients and neighbors the care they deserve.

“A once-again proposed additional hospital in our community could present new challenges to our health system, but we have faced and overcome many challenges before, and each has made us stronger. We will continue to live by ‘The Phoebe Way’ – our pledge to make every life we touch better by putting safety first, offering superior service and providing exceptional care to everyone, every day.”

Asked by Development Authority member Keith Miller how long it would take for the Lee hospital to turn a profit, Baker said the question was premature.

“That question is getting the cart way before the horse,” Miller said. “What we do know is that there is a need for this facility, and we feel confident this is going to be a great hospital.”

Lee Chamber of Commerce Director Lisa Davis addressed the economic development potential that the hospital would bring.

“We’re already getting calls, and what a lot of them are saying is that getting the hospital project off the ground will be a ‘game-changer’ for Lee County,” Davis said. “There is talk of building a hotel, and just taxes generated by such a project would be around $600,000. That’s a big part of that $1.8 million, and that’s just one source. What we’re hearing is that if the hospital comes, the rest will follow: hotels, retail, commercial, ancillary health care facilities.”

Singletary said the joint meeting was called to provide information, but he stressed that the time to move forward had come.

“It’s gotten to the point that we’re either all-in or all-out,” the commission chairman said. “We’re excited about Hughston’s involvement in this project, and the bond attorneys say they feel really good about things. We learned a lot the first time around … this feels a whole lot better.” 

Staff Photo: Carlton Fletcher