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Hospitals may merge into regional facility Grove Hill and Jackson hospital officials and municipal leaders are discussing the possibility of the two facilities merging and building a new regional medical center about halfway between the two towns. Jackson Medical Center administrator Teresa Grimes made the surprise announcement at a meeting of Jackson citizens Tuesday working on an Alabama Communities of Excellence (ACE) certification. Grimes described the health care assets of Jackson for the group and then talked about the possible merger. A location about six miles north of Jackson has been proposed as a site for a new facility. To meet Monday She said representatives would meet at the Grove Hill Memorial Hospital Monday evening to discuss the idea. The Grove Hill hos- pital board meets Monday and the discussion will come after the board meeting. "Both the medical staffs are excited about the opportunity," Grimes said. She said a combined facility makes sense from the standpoint of better serving the two communities and the region as well as from a financial standpoint. "One CT scanner costs $1 million. Instead of two, we could serve the needs with one. The service [contract] on a CT is over $100,000 annually. Having one [payment] instead of two makes a lot of sense," she explained. Proposal gets good applause "I am excited. I hope it takes us somewhere," Grimes told the group Tuesday. She asked, "I'd like to know if everyone here is favorable of a collaboration between Jackson and Grove Hill." The answer was a hearty applause. Grove Hill Hospital Administrator Doug Sewell confirmed that the matter is being discussed and said it is a good idea to look at. He cautioned that there are still a lot of things that have to be decided before the regional facility could become a reality. Private, public facilities Jackson Medical Center is a privately owned hospital. Grove Hill Memorial Hospital, on the other hand, is a publicly owned facility, owned by the town of Grove Hill. An appointed board of directors oversees its operation. Anew facility probably couldn't be a hybrid private/public facility. Sewell said that a private entity could operate it or Grove Hill and Jackson could combine to operate it as a public hospital. That is just one of the issues to be addressed. Grove Hill Mayor Lamar Hudson and Jackson Mayor Richard Long both said they thought the merger idea deserved study. "We need to look at ways to better serve people. Working together as one looks like a better way to do that," Hudson said. T'ville pursuing new facility The discussion may be driven by the proposal of Southwest Alabama Medical Center of Thomasville to build a new hospital on the south side of Thomasville. A new facility there would carry an estimated $35 million price tag. Sewell said a new hospital between Grove Hill and Jackson would cost a similar amount. A study was done a few years ago on the hospital and medical needs of the area. It has been noted that over 60 percent of area residents needing hospital services go outside of the county for those services. The study addressed the idea of a regional medical facility and said that Grove Hill would be the best place in Clarke County for such a facility. However, that recommendation didn't go over too well with some areas of the county and nothing ever came of it. Historical connection Many people may not know it; but Grove Hill and Jackson hospitals have a historical tie. Dr. G.C. McCrary operated the old South Alabama Infirmary in Jackson back in the 1930s and '40s. Dr. R.D. Neal bought the hospital from McCrary and construction was started on a new facility in Grove Hill. The hospital relocated there in 1948. Eventually it became the "Grove Hill Hospital." Today's Grove Hill Memorial Hospital is the outgrowth of the old South Alabama Infirmary that started in Jackson.
Jackson Medical Center dates to the 1950s when Jackson Hospital was built.
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