Welcome to ZZ Sumter Regional Hospital

Update – Thursday, November 29, 2007

Please note that much of the information contained in this update does not represent a final determination, and could very likely change in the coming days or weeks.  It is the intent of this communication to be a good-faith effort to keep you apprised as to general information so that you can stay ahead of rumors and speculation.  Please do not take any of this content as a guarantee of what will be happening in either the short-term or long-term, and be patient and understanding as things may change.

Win an MRI
As of Thursday morning at 8:15 am we were over 150,000 votes and increasing steadily.  Our lead over Lockport NY (the second-place hospital) stands at just over 67,900 votes with 32 days to go.  Over the past week, we've averaged about 2,500 votes per day.  If we continue that pace, Lockport would have to average almost 4,400 votes per day to catch us.  Their average over the past week has been about 1,860 votes per day.

Hospital Architect
The architectural firm that will be designing the new SRH is Gresham Smith and Partners, with headquarters in Nashville TN and an office in Jacksonville FL.  They project a formal groundbreaking in October 2008 with a grand opening of the new facility in the Summer of 2010.

SRH East Construction Schedule
The plan remains for the construction of the SRHEast facility to finish in mid-January with a mid-to-late February opening after we've had time to move in all our equipment and furnishings and get things settled and organized.  We believe that some vendors may be able to begin moving some larger equipment into the building around Christmas.  As we get closer to opening, we will organize a series of Open Houses for the medical staff, employees, and community for everyone to see the facility and begin to get acquainted with the layout.

Chief Nursing Officer of the Year
Congratulations to Susie Fussell, who was named the “Chief Nursing Officer of the Year” for 2007 by the Georgia Association of Nurse Leaders at their recent annual meeting for her excellent work in managing the nursing staff operations since the changes brought about by the tornado. Upon receiving the award, she quickly pointed to all of her Directors, Nurse Managers, and nursing staff who have done such an outstanding job adjusting to circumstances in order to continue to provide the same outstanding level of patient care as before.

Patient Counts
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the Urgent Care facility had a lighter week than normal last week by seeing 401 patients.  Outpatient Services saw 468 patients, and the Oncology Clinic saw 102 folks.  When you add in the 34 patients seen by Rehab, we saw 1,005 people in all this past week.  That is the first week since the July 4 holiday week that we've been that close to the 1,000-patient mark.  We've now seen over 39,000 people in all since the blue tents opened on 3/5.

Love Lights Tree
The annual Lighting of the Love Lights Tree is scheduled for Tuesday 12/4 at 6:30 pm.  The lighting will take place at the SRH East/Urgent Care area, refreshments will be served and Santa will also make an appearance.  There will also be a Christmas play by the SRH Kids.  Please bring your family and partake in this very special holiday event.  For more info, please call the Marketing & PR Department at 229-928-4000.

Again, please understand that this communication is intended to be a rough update and is not intended to be a final determination of short-term or long-term plans.  Also, please be flexible, as things do change frequently and oftentimes with little warning.

US Patent Numbers 7,720,998 B2, 7,836,207