Lee officials: CON extension ‘routine’

LEESBURG — Lee County officials, expressing a desire for “total transparency,” issued a statement Friday announcing the Lee Commission’s request for an extension of the Lee County Medical Center’s certificate of need, granted in November of 2017 by the Georgia Department of Community Health.

If granted as expected, the extension would allow for 12 additional months to construct the 60-bed hospital planned on Grand Island Drive adjacent to the Lee-Dougherty County line.

“Filing the extension is simply a result of weather and other unanticipated delays associated with preparing the site for construction of the hospital,” Lee Commission Chairman Billy Mathis said in a news release. “Notwithstanding the unanticipated delays, we continue to make strong progress to develop the new hospital.”

Since the 2017 CON approval, the county has been working with a team of experts, including architects, developers and an experienced hospital operator, to establish the new hospital.

“Hospital projects take time,” said Eddie Alexander, the president and CEO of LCMC OPCO LLC, the company that will operate and manage Lee County Medical Center. “Before the hospital doors open, bonds and construction must be funded, and the site must have the proper infrastructure. We appreciate the department’s thoughtful review, and we look forward to continuing to build the hospital.”

Commissioner Rick Muggridge said the latest matter of business is not the result of some issue of concern with development and construction of the $123 million hospital.

“Do I wish we were pushing dirt on that site right now? Absolutely,” Muggridge told The Albany Herald. “But with deals this big, there are a vast number of things that must be considered, codified and legalized.

“(Seeking a CON extension) is, from everything I understand, very routine. There is one lady at the Department of Community Health who looks over the request, stamps it, and unless there is some kind of unforeseen issue, has everything approved in a couple of days. This is not something that anyone can protest, appeal or anything like that.”

Muggridge said construction of the facility is still on track to start this year.

“Do I think we’re still going to start construction this year (with the delay)? I do,” he said. “We have a drainage project ongoing that, frankly, we haven’t been able to finish because of the rain, and if the rain — which right now seems never-ending — doesn’t stop we’re liable to be pushed back another year. But, yes, I believe we’ll break ground mid-summer, some time in June or July.”

Muggridge said Alexander and the development group that is financing construction of the Lee hospital project have kept county officials apprised of all issues related to the project.

“Eddie and his group are the ones making the decisions on this because they’re the ones with money at risk,” the Lee commissioner said. “But there’s been a lot of give-and-take, back-and-forth, with that group and the commission. They’ve been transparent every step of the way, engaging us, asking our opinion. Everything that happens, we know about.”

Muggridge said completion of the road that will lead to the hospital and of a temporary construction road that will be used during development have been approved by the commission and is “in the engineering phase” at this time.

“The road has been approved (by the commission) and the design has been approved,” he said. “We hope bids for that project will go out in February or March.”

The longest-serving current member of the commission said that while the bond company that had agreed to purchase bonds that will finance the project is involved in a merger with a larger company, officials with that company have assured Alexander and Lee officials that the purchase will be made as planned. Muggridge also said the investment group charged with management of the hospital is talking with “three well-known health care groups” to determine which will manage the day-to-day operations of the facility.

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Jennifer Parks