Hospital COO gives update at Eggs & Issues

Published 7:00 am Thursday, October 24, 2024

Business leaders and community members heard an update on the local hospital at the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs & Issues speaker series last week.

Thomas Goss, chief operating officer of Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin, spoke to the Central Georgia Technical College breakfast crowd Wednesday about recent goings-on at the hospital. He started with a quick history lesson.

Opened as an 80-bed facility in 1957, what was originally known as Baldwin County Hospital has undergone many name changes throughout its life. It was Oconee Regional Medical Center for awhile, then Navicent Health Baldwin for a time after a sale in 2017. A strategic partnership between Navicent Health and Carolina Health System produced new branding as Atrium Health in early 2021. Another partnership with midwestern healthcare provider Aurora Health birthed another name, Advocate Health, though Goss said the Atrium Health branding is being maintained here in the southeast.

Since the late 2022 merger, Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin has been part of the third-largest health care system in the United States.

Goss touched on several topics during his hour-long address. One topic was the Georgia HEART program. HEART stands for Help Enhance Access to Rural Treatment. The program that allows state taxpayers to direct their Georgia tax dollars toward the local hospital. Goss said the initiative generated $980,000 for Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin last year and helped purchase a new MRI machine.

“We appreciate all the support,” he said. “That provides so much for us.”

Those interested can sign up online at www.georgiaheart.org.

The hospital COO then pivoted to a topic he’s heard mentioned in the community lately, obstetrician services. Baldwin and the surrounding counties have seen a reduction in OB services this year with one physician moving out of the community and another whose office has shifted focus.

Goss called Dr. Charles Brown of Milledgeville OBGYN a “workhorse in this community.” The hospital is stepping in with a short-term solution, bringing contracted physicians in to fill any gaps. Meanwhile, renovations are scheduled to turn one of the hospital’s outbuildings into an OB clinic.

“We’re bringing in an OB hospitalist group to provide full services there and prenatal care,” Goss said. “They will also be doing deliveries in the hospital.”

Goss shared what he called a shocking number in saying that more than 80% of mothers who come to the hospital to deliver are unassigned to a physician, meaning they have received no prenatal care. The hospital official said an effort will be made in Baldwin and the surrounding counties to get the word out about the new clinic.

The local hospital will be partially solar-powered in the near future, Goss said. Its parent company has an initiative to be carbon-neutral by 2030. Starting next month, installation will begin on solar panels at Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin with a “turn-on” date for November 2025.

“We will offset our useable power at the hospital by about 40% with our solar energy,” said Goss. “That’s a pretty big deal.”

The COO then turned attention to a subject near and dear to his heart, emergency medical services. Goss worked his way up from paramedic to nurse and eventually to his current role. Atrium Health Navicent has had the contract over ambulance service in Baldwin County for about a year now. The fleet has grown from three vehicles to four, and the unit is working on its response times, according to Goss.

When it comes to technology, Atrium Health Navicent has invested heavily to help its local paramedics. Each ambulance is outfitted with what’s called a LUCAS device. The machine does chest compressions, which frees up paramedics’ hands to do other tasks. There are also laryngoscopes with a camera and monitor that make intubation easier. And the Lifepak device can transmit patient data to a doctor real-time, cutting down on precious minutes and seconds in the life-saving process.

Goss left the breakfast meeting with one final thought.

“At the end of the day, it’s still the Baldwin County Hospital and always will be,” he said. “We want it to grow and expand, but we want to keep that small-town feel to it … We want to have the best equipment, and we can do those things, but we want to continue to provide hometown feel and the best services we can. It doesn’t matter what name is on the sign out front. It’s always Baldwin, and we want it to stay that way.”

Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Kara Lassiter said Georgia College & State University President Cathy Cox will be the final Eggs & Issues speaker of 2024 on Wednesday, Nov. 20.