‘Amazing’: Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan tours Phoebe simulation center during Albany visit

ALBANY — The southwest Georgia region faces some unique challenges, but what Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan saw during a Tuesday visit to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital left him impressed.

The Republican, who announced he will not seek a second term in office in the November election, toured the Simulation and Innovation Center at Phoebe during a stop in Albany Tuesday.

“This is fantastic,” he remarked to Phoebe personnel after seeing the mannequins that can mimic various symptoms and medical conditions.

“Southwest Georgia is such an important part of our state,” he said. “It is part of our past, present and future. At times it gets difficult in terms of how to solve some of these problems” in education and health care.

Following the tour, Phoebe officials gave a presentation that outlined the nursing shortage facing the hospital system, state and nation and some of the ways they are trying to solve the shortage. Those include a virtual nursing program through which veteran nurses who may be looking to leave the routine of working on the floor can perform time-consuming tasks like admitting and discharging patients, freeing up time for their counterparts at the bedside.

“To me, that was a fantastic way to try to solve some of the nursing issues,” the lieutenant governor said during an interview following the presentation.

Some of the innovations he saw could be models to bring to other parts of the state, he said.

Duncan said he also was impressed with the coming Living and Learning Center that will allow students to attend class and live in the same building. Located across North Jefferson Street from Phoebe, students will have convenient access to do lab work in the hospital.

Last year, the hospital system spent $75 million on contract workers due to staffing shortages, Brian Church, the chief financial and administrative officer for the Phoebe Putney Health System, told Duncan. So in terms of cost, the $40 million investment in the nursing center, which is expected to accommodate 200 to 300 students, could pay for itself in a few years by training nurses from the area to become full-time hospital employees.

The center also will train nurses who can work all over the state, Church said.

State Rep. Gerald Greene, a Cuthbert Republican seeking re-election in the fall, and Democratic state Sen. Freddie Powell Sims of Dawson accompanied the lieutenant governor on the tour.

Duncan said the two have been strong advocates for the region and that their budgetary requests have been beneficial to area residents.

“The accountability is there for you to see,” Sims said.

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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