Wednesday, July 31, 2002

New long-term acute care hospital proposed at SRMC

In conjunction with Southern Crescent Long Term Acute Care Hospital (SCLTACH), Southern Regional Medical Center has filed a Certificate of Need for a Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) hospital to be located within its facility. SCLTACH is a newly formed not-for-profit company that will oversee the development and ongoing operation of the LTAC hospital.

"We formed this new company based on recognition of the need for an LTAC hospital to serve patients in the Southern Crescent", says SCLTACH interim chairman/president Rob Simmons. "Southern Regional is the ideal location for the hospital since it already has patients who require LTAC services." Ed Bonn, Southern Regional President and CEO, adds, "We are pleased with SCLTACH's decision to establish a LTAC facility at Southern Regional. It will provide seamless healthcare to our patients who require longer-term recovery following acute illnesses."

The LTAC hospital will provide a full array of long-term critical care services to patients who have had serious illnesses or injuries. "These are patients who typically have been stabilized in an in-patient hospital unit, but still require a high level of nursing care", according to Steven Muller, MD, senior vice president medical affairs for Southern Regional Medical Center. "They also require daily physician visits, and comprehensive care including physical, occupational and speech therapies. The average length of stay for these patients is approximately 25 days."

"Southern Regional has an existing base of patients who need the services the LTAC offers, but which is currently unavailable to them on the southside", says Mary Kay Kiesling, SRMC senior vice president of operations. "Transferring these patients to other facilities can be traumatic, not to mention inconvenient for the patient, physicians and family members", Kiesling adds. "In addition to serving our existing patients, the need for the facility is increasing due to population growth and aging of the population."

The 30-bed hospital will contain an acute care activity area for the full range of rehabilitative therapies and a special staff trained in providing post-acute care. Pending state approval, the facility is projected to be completed and open in March 2003.

Southern Regional Health System provides comprehensive health resources including: Southern Regional Medical Center, a 406-bed, full-service hospital in Riverdale featuring a state-of-the-art outpatient surgery center, a women's center, a Diabetes Resource Center and one of the busiest and best emergency departments in the state; RiverWoods, Southern Regional Psychiatric Center, a psychiatric facility with a complete continuum of behavioral care services; Southern Regional Homecare, a home health agency providing home health services and the Surgery Center at Mt. Zion, a multi-specialty surgery center in Morrow.