Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty takes action on property, receives project updates

ALBANY — The open session of the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County had a full agenda Thursday, including financial updates and a budget presentation for the authority, as well as an update on ongoing projects, including the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital community needs assessment, a medical student housing complex for Medical College of Georgia, the Phoebe Community Care Clinic, facility updates and a presentation on energy efficiency efforts within the hospital.

Action was also taken regarding a lease-and-transfer agreement for the 1912 Arlington Lane property being sought for purchase by Dr. Paul Payne of Southwest Georgia Obstetrics and Gynecology to accommodate the expanding practice next door.

Brian Church, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Phoebe Putney Health System, gave the financial report, showing that the Hospital Authority’s statements as of June 30 reflect a total of $100,306 in unaudited assets, as well as $65,967 in total operating revenue and $5,262 in total operating expenses.

The authority’s budget for Fiscal Year 2017 accounts for $50,000 in total operating revenue and expenses, Church said.

Mention was also made at the meeting of Medicaid expansion, something those in the health care industry in Georgia have been lobbying heavily for. Church said that Phoebe, which is set to lose $2 million in FY 2017 due to changes associated with the lack of expansion and the Affordable Care Act, would see an immediate reimbursement of $10-$12 million.

Jay Reynolds, attorney for the authority, said the purchase of the Arlington Lane facility, which had been home to the Phoebe Pediatric Specialty Clinics, was expected to close for a price of $356,000 prior to the authority’s next quarterly meeting. He suggested a motion be placed on the table for the balance of $100,000 from the sale be given to Phoebe for releasing the property from a 50-year lease, which the authority approved.

The authority voted in May to proceed with discussions to sell the property to Payne with first right of refusal language included in the agreement at fair market value based on appraisal. It was acquired by the authority as part of the Palmyra Medical Centers, now Phoebe North, purchase in 2011 and has an appraised value ranging from $456,000-$479,000.

The list of 15 priorities for this year’s community needs assessment for Phoebe were eventually narrowed down to three. They were behavioral health and addictive disease, for which care appears to be non-existent in some areas of the region, birth outcomes — including birth weight — and chronic disease.

Lori Jenkins, director of strategy and planning at Phoebe, outlined to the hospital’s board of directors in July the details of the assessment prior to the board’s approval. She gave a similar presentation to the Hospital Authority on Thursday.

“I’m probably not telling you something you don’t know, but mental health services is a huge priority in this region,” she said of one of the needs.

The next step, Jenkins said, is to complete the implementation plan, which outlines how the priorities will be addressed. The hospital’s board is expected to act on that plan in December, she said.

Laura Shearer, senior vice president of patient care services at the hospital, gave an update on the community clinic that opened earlier this year on Fourth Avenue. She said the clinic has gone from a volume of 481 patients with a door-to-door time of 70 minutes in March to a volume of 1,270 with a door-to-door time of 56 minutes in July. In that timeframe, respiratory infections, lower back pain and suture removal have been among the top diagnoses.

The clinic, through which care is provided primarily by nurse practitioners, has been presented as a method for getting care for non-emergent cases faster and at a lower cost than patients would get at Phoebe’s emergency department. Based on the total number of visits to date, which is 4,473, there is a projected savings of $4.8 million, Shearer said.

Progress continues on the medical student housing complex currently being built at the corner of North Jackson Street and West Fourth Avenue. When finished next year, it is expected to house up to 45 people — providing a place to stay for those doing rotations as part of their medical education in Southwest Georgia.

Phoebe Putney Health System CEO Joel Wernick said philanthropy has made for a significant portion of the project’s budget, with another $1 million-$2 million expected to be donated toward the complex in the coming days.

“It is also a piece of the puzzle in the economic development in Albany and Dougherty County,” said Wernick.

Joe Austin, chief operating officer for the health system, also noted that renovations to the hospital’s seventh floor had recently been completed, and that the process for replacing the linear accelerator, or LINAC, machines at Radiation Oncology Associates at the Phoebe Cancer Center at a cost of $5.2 million is continuing.

The first LINAC machine was installed, and the process continues to replace the second one, after the machines reached their life span.

Officials broke ground in June on Phoebe Primary Care of Camilla’s new facility, which officials told the authority has a 10-month timeframe for completion.

“It is all about access,” Austin said on Thursday. “The core of any organization is primary care.”

David Paul, the director of construction and facilities at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, said efforts have been ongoing since August 2013 to implement energy-reduction efforts, which include a conversion from pneumatic thermostats to digital thermostats, which are already in place throughout the hospital and other facilities within the health system.

In the timeframe from August 2013 to June of this year, officials spent $925,925 and saved $1.7 million, while also saving more than 18 million kilowatt hours of electricity, Paul said.