PDA to be conduit for funds to help local physicians

Beth Alston - Americus Times Recorder 12.6.07

The Americus-Sumter County Payroll Development Authority (PDA) voted Tuesday 4-1 to be a conduit for funds from Sumter Regional Hospital to offer help to physicians whose practices were damaged as a result of the March 1 tornado in order to keep them in the community. Authority members Paul Hall, Jarred Stevens, Scott Ivey and Mike Donnelly voted for the proposal while Juanita Wilson voted against.

 

The motion, offered by Ivey, consisted of several parts: that the PDA be a conduit for the $750,000 from the hospital authority for the receipt and disbursement of such funds to local physicians disadvantaged by the tornado subsequent to criteria set forth by a consulting firm; that the PDA retain Phase 2 as the consulting firm to collect, analyze and administer the program and make recommendations to the PDA for the disbursement of the funds; that the PDA expend no direct funds on the project, including consulting and legal fees; and that the PDA hire legal counsel for the project. Mike Fennessy, PDA attorney, is also the attorney for Sumter Regional Hospital, so he recused himself from this project.

David Seagraves had rolled out the proposal at a special called meeting of the PDA on Friday.

 

The PDA decided Friday to table the matter until they could obtain more details from Phase 2. They received that information Monday.

At Tuesday's meeting, PDA members asked many questions, all of which Seagraves answered.

The only dissenter, Wilson, said she had received "phone calls" after the story appeared in the Times-Recorder on Sunday. She had some concerns, she said.

"If we're having a drive to build a new hospital, what reason would there be to take $750,000 out of the future of the hospital?" she asked of Seagraves.

"Building a new hospital without medical staff does no one any good," he answered. "The hospital management company would not have decided to do this if they hadn't seen a dire need to meet the needs of the physicians in the community ... We're working hard to get funds outside the community to build the new hospital. In fact in a few days we will have a major announcement of a donor, which will remain anonymous. We will be looking at every grant opportunity and discuss with state and federal officials to receive more assistance," he explained, reiterating much of what he had told the PDA at Friday's meeting, which Wilson did not attend.

"Providing this assistance does not hinder the process, but helps," he said.

 

Finding a neutral body to serve as the conduit was key to the success of this proposal. The hospital had to obtain prior permission from the federal Department of Health and Human Services. This was the result of months of work by Seagraves along with U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson and U.S. Congressman Sanford Bishop. The proposal was supported by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

 

The hospital cannot legally provide incentives to physicians who are already in the community and who are not already on the hospital's payroll.

Seagraves said it is less e xpensive to offer physicians incentives to stay in the community rather than spending large amounts of money recruiting physicians to a community without a hospital.

 

By law, the hospital will not be privy to any information that is provided by physicians who apply for the grants to Phase 2 and will in no way influence the PDA in making decisions relative to the program.