St. Mary’s Outlines Plan for Ty Cobb

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

The future is looking good for Ty Cobb Regional Medical Center in Lavonia, that is if the State Attorney General’s office approves the sale of the hospital to St. Mary’s Healthcare of Athens.

At a public hearing earlier this month, St. Mary’s Healthcare President and CEO Don McKenna outlined St. Mary’s strategic plan for Ty Cobb Regional if the sale goes through as planned.

McKenna announced several improvements in specialty care at Ty Cobb Regional that will be put in place soon after the sale closes, which is expected to take place around the first of June.

He said St. Mary’s is planning to add a certified stroke center to serve its entire healthcare system, and Ty Cobb Regional will have access to it.
According to McKenna, strokes are more common in this part of the country.

McKenna said this part of the country is a high-stroke area known as the “stroke belt,” which extends from the Carolinas into North Georgia.

“We are recognized nationally and in the state for our care of stroke and the comprehensive nature in which we provide those services,” McKenna said. “We are intending to seek out a Certified Remote Stroke Center, which is tied to our relationship in Athens and that of Georgia Regents University.”

McKenna said another area of concentration for Ty Cobb Regional when St. Mary’s takes over will be for diabetes care and prevention.

He said about 20 percent of the patients coming to the hospital today are either diabetes patients already or are newly diagnosed with the disease.

“Starting in July, we are excited to have hired in a fellowship-trained endocrinologist out of Emory,” McKenna said. “Dr. Anthony will have a temporary office up here, as well as in Greensboro, as well in Athens. Endocrinology is a very difficult specialty to recruit. It’s taken us over two and half years.”

McKenna said they also plan to continue Ty Cobb’s tradition of working with self-pay and charity patients.

As for personnel, McKenna said all current employees at Ty Cobb Regional must re-apply for their jobs or other jobs within the St. Mary’s Healthcare system.

He said all will undergo St. Mary’s rigid application process, which includes background checks and drug testing.

However, McKenna made no guarantees that existing personnel will be rehired.

He did say some Ty Cobb employees are already set to transfer to other St. Mary’s facilities and some St. Mary’s employees are already scheduled to transfer to Ty Cobb Regional.