This year to bring new hospital in Lee County, new CEO to Phoebe Putney Health System

ALBANY — A new leader at Phoebe Putney Health System and the anticipated groundbreaking of Lee County Medical Center are the top developments those in the Albany and Leesburg area can expect this year.

On Feb. 1, the Lee County Commission announced that a request to extend the Lee County hospital’s certificate of need had been submitted to the Georgia Department of Community Health, seeking 12 additional months to construct the 60-bed hospital on a 200-acre site on Grand Island Drive. The CON was initially approved in November of 2017.

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

Two weeks after making the request to DCH, the extension request was withdrawn. Community Health officials recommended that Lee officials wait until closer to the May deadline when the original CON is set to expire. Lee officials say there is still hope the groundbreaking will take place this summer.

Lee Commissioner Rick Muggridge and other Lee officials said the extension request was filed as a result of unanticipated weather delays, infrastructure projects and the business of building a new hospital.

“I think we are moving along,” Muggridge said. “I think everyone wishes everything would move faster.”

The proposed hospital lost time last year as it faced litigation, which is now in the past. One of the biggest hurdles remaining is finding a health care provider partner to operate the hospital — a financial requirement in order to move forward. Muggridge declined to go into details on which entities officials have talked to, but he said that the major players already in Georgia have been contacted.

“Nobody has not returned our phone calls,” he said. “For some, the reality has been that it just does not fit into their model this year.

“There are other major health systems looking to broaden their footprint.”

Muggridge said the community is behind the hospital, so it is largely a matter of overcoming the standard implementation hurdles. In the meantime, potential businesses are waiting for some infrastructure to fall into place. Apart from the bricks and mortar, this also includes the ongoing Westover Boulevard extension project that ought to ultimately connect Oakland Parkway to the future hospital site off of Ledo Road.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently got its permit for the next phase of the project.

“Once that is completed, there will be real pressure for the state to finish their portion,” Muggridge said.

The county commissioner said the result of the state work completion should be increased commercial viability. His vision for the hospital property includes retail and recreation space.

“It will be a real entertainment zone and medical zone,” he said.

Muggridge said a sales representative with connections throughout the country is setting up at trade shows and putting feelers out for any businesses interested in expanding their brick-and-mortar presence, action Lee officials say is instrumental in developing that commercial space.

“(I envision) a Trader Joe’s, 10-12 restaurants, a lot of green space and water features,” he said. “You can go to the doctor and go to the dog park. I hope it becomes a reality in three to four years.”

The construction timeline for the hospital is 16 months. If groundbreaking still takes place this summer as planned, officials would be looking at an opening date in 2020. By 2022 or 2023, Muggridge said county officials anticipate that the transportation infrastructure would be in place to expand the development.

“(I want it to be) a place that is nice, clean — a place people want to be on Friday night,” Muggridge said.

As far as the CON extension is concerned, Muggridge said DCH suggested waiting until officials are certain it is needed before filing it — advising them that Lee County still has plenty of time.

“I think everyone wants to be as conservative as (we) can be,” Muggridge said. “I am optimistic and desperately want this to happen, sooner rather than later.

“I look forward to us continuing growing and refreshing ourselves, especially the bottom part of the county.”

Meanwhile, in Albany, Phoebe Putney Health system and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital will have a new president and CEO starting Friday.

J. Scott Steiner is set to become the next president and CEO of Phoebe, succeeding Joel Wernick upon his retirement after 30 years with the organization.

Steiner has served as an executive with Tenet Healthcare Corporation, a Fortune 500 company based in Dallas, operating 70 hospitals and 470 outpatient centers in 47 states. He most previously served as CEO of four Tenet hospitals in Detroit, and previously was CEO of a Tenet hospital in Chicago.

“Phoebe is an outstanding organization with a long and proud history of serving the people of southwest Georgia well,” Steiner said when his hiring was announced. “Its impressive, expanding team of highly-qualified physicians and other clinicians brings specialty services and a level of care normally found only in larger metropolitan areas.

“Phoebe is a true comprehensive system with amazing facilities, equipment, technology and employees, and I am impressed with the staff’s commitment to continuous improvement. I look forward to joining the Phoebe family on that unceasing journey to find new and better ways to deliver quality care and build community partnerships. I am driven by faith and family. I look forward to becoming an integral part of the community and enjoying the many wonderful outdoor activities available in southwest Georgia.”

Wernick, while reflecting on some of the challenges he faced during the last three decades, recently said in an interview with The Albany Herald that he’s looking forward to the next phase of his life. He also discussed his feelings about retirement.

“I don’t think it will be difficult,” he said. “Everyone realizes there’s a new chief executive, and he has his own ways of doing things. If somebody needs me, though, it will be, ‘Here’s my phone number, give me a call.’ Time fades. I’m reminded of Roy Barnes talking about the ‘shelf-life’ of a former governor. He said he went to an Atlanta Braves game and in the second or third inning, when some of the folks in the less expensive seats started filtering down to fill in the vacant seats on the lower level, one guy kept looking over, staring at him. Finally, during the seventh-inning stretch after the guy’d had several beers, he walked over to Barnes and said, “Hey, buddy, you look familiar. Did you and I work together on the Ford factory line?” Gov. Barnes said, ‘It was then I knew the shelf-life of a former governor.’

“I think the shelf-life of a former CEO will be relatively short. And I’m going to work very hard at becoming anonymous.”

Raised in St. Louis, Steiner graduated from Missouri State University before earning a masters of business administration degree with a health services emphasis from Webster University in St. Louis. He began his career in health care administration as director of physician network and development for a hospital in East St. Louis in 1992.

Carlton Fletcher contributed to this report

Jennifer Parks