Who approved the $40 million purchase of Smith Northview Hospital by South Georgia Medical Center (SGMC)? The Valdosta-Lowndes County Hospital Authority. Who is that?

Let’s look on their web pages. We would, if they had any. Let’s try the Valdosta city web pages: the link to Hospital Authority gets 404 not found. How about the Lowndes County web pages? Don’t be silly! The Lowndes County government doesn’t provide links to any of the 20+ boards and authorities to which it appoints members.

So where can we find a list of who’s on this board? Why, SGMC:

Home – About SGMC – Hospital Authority

As a public hospital, an eight-member Hospital Authority governs SGMC. Both the City Council of Valdosta and the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners appoints the representatives who serve on the Authority. Each group appoints four representatives who each serve a 5-year term. Authority members are community leaders who serve the hospital voluntarily. It’s a labor-intensive job for which no Authority member receives any monetary compensation.

In terms of governance, the Authority has the ultimate decision-making ability when it comes to the hospital. The Authority is subject to the Hospital Authorities Law of the Code of Georgia.

Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County Members

William S. Cowart, Chairman
E. Cameron Hickman, Vice Chairman
John W. Langdale, Jr., Treasurer
Sam Allen, BA, M.Ed., Ed.S.
Lynne Feldman, M.D., MPH
Gregory Powell
Mary Margaret Richardson, RN, MSN, Ed.D.
Bill Rountree

Hm, “It’s a labor-intensive job for which no Authority member receives any monetary compensation.” Yeah, lifting that rubber stamp puts a real strain on the old bicep.

-jsq

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