PROFILES IN
hEalth CaRE HOSPITALS GROWING IN NUMBERS, SERVICES By HANK ROWLAND
PROFILES | The Brunswick News
Southeast Georgia Health System has come a long way in 13 years. It has grown from one hospital with financial health issues at the start of the century to a health system that offers more services and more places to receive them. Improvement and expansion started with the arrival of Gary R. Colberg as president and chief executive. “He’s basically reshaped the health system and brought it into this century,” says Mike Hodges, one of nine members of the board of directors of the Glynn-Brunswick Memorial Hospital Authority that operates the health system. “He has done a wonderful job.” The system has its base hospital in Brunswick and another in St. Marys, and senior care centers in both communities. Other facilities include family care centers in Glynn, Brantley and McIntosh counties and immediate care centers on St. Simons Island and the Glynn County mainland. Specialty centers, which focus on particular health issues close to the flagship hospital in Brunswick, include the Endocrinology and Diabetes Care Center, Infectious Disease Care Center, MRI and Imaging center, Sleep Management Center, Summer Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery and its latest addition, pediatric services affiliated with Wolfson Children’s Hospital at Jacksonville. The health system’s metamorphosis started in earnest with the decision shortly after Colberg’s arrival to begin planning for the $33 million Ambulatory Care Center, the five-story structure that features 135,000 square feet of medical office and diagnostic space connected to the Brunswick hospital. This past year, the health system opened its new four-story Medical Plaza across from the hospital. It
The Southeast Georgia Health System hospital at Brunswick
26 PROFILES The Brunswick News / Saturday, March 29, 2014
includes pediatric services offered by Wolfson. By the numbers through 13 years, the health system has grown in: • Employees, from 1,436 in 2001 to 2,229 in 2014. • Physicians on staff at the Brunswick hospital, from 95 in 2001 to 248 in 2014. • Physicians on staff at the St. Marys hospital, from 30 in 2001 to 158 in 2014. • Number of facilities operated, from 13 in 2003 to 36 in 2014. • Total square footage of facilities operated, from 738,000 in 2003 to 1.2 million in 2014. But the health system is more than numbers. It is the doctors, nurses, aides, orderlies and administrative staff who keep it working. In addition to recruiting physicians and other health care professionals, the health system is a strong supporter of the nursing program at College of Coastal Georgia and is participating in another program that brings medical students to the hospital. New equipment is also a factor. At the beginning of 2011, the health system began treating cancer patients with one of the most advanced tools available, the $4 million Cyberknife Robotic Radiosurgery System. The hospital in Brunswick was said to be one of three in Georgia at the time to offer the noninvasive treatment. The health system is currently building, thanks to the anonymous donation of $4 million, accommodations to house out-of-town families whose loved ones are in the hospital and medical students at the hospital as part of Center for Education Development. Southeast Georgia Health System is also creating partnerships with other health care systems and hospitals. It announced a partnership with Bacon County Hospital and Health System in 2013 and is working now with forming a partnership with Flagler Hospital and Baptist Health of Northeast Florida.