Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, Then and Now
In 1908, a group of women in Americus established the Americus and Sumter County Hospital Association which paved the way for an eight-bed hospital to be constructed. After a period of prosperity, the association began making plans for an even larger Sumter County Hospital in 1914, which consisted of 27 beds. Eighteen years later, in 1932, a 27-bed annex was added to the back of the hospital and was the impetus for even further and more rapid growth.
In 1952, a new Americus and Sumter County Hospital was dedicated. The $2 million facility, located on the north side of town began seeing patients in 1953. Due to continued growth, the hospital received a facelift in 1975, starting with the addition of an east wing. During the remainder of that decade and throughout the 80’s, Sumter Regional grew by leaps and bounds, adding services including: coronary care, telemetry, a labor, delivery, recovery and post-partum (LDRP) unit, oncology clinic, rehabilitative services and a whole host of other departments and services.
Sumter Regional Hospital a then 143-bed, community non-profit hospital took a big step forward to ensure it could meet the needs of its patients through the millennium by initiating a $21.5-million expansion and renovation project in 1997. In 1999, the vision materialized by completing a 94,000 square foot expansion.
The Tornado and the Road to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center
On March 1, 2007, a tornado ravaged the Americus community. Sumter Regional Hospital was destroyed by the tornado which forced much of the medical community to leave. In the days and weeks to follow, the hospital operated out of tents donated by FEMA and GEMA for a before moving into modular buildings. COGIM units were then brought in to build an interim facility, which opened on April 1, 2008. The interim facility featured 76 beds and 71,000 square feet of space, as well as the majority of the services that were available before the tornado.
In October 2008, Phoebe Putney Health System responded to a request from the Americus and Sumter County Hospital Authority to be a partner in rebuilding the Sumter hospital. As a result, Sumter Regional Hospital became Phoebe Sumter Medical Center. The first day of operation for the newly named facility was July 1, 2009.
In January 2010, construction began on a 40-acre site that would be the new permanent home of Phoebe Sumter Medical Center.
Going the Extra Mile to Deliver Exceptional Care
The current state-of-the-art 183,000 square foot facility opened in Dec. 2011 and features 76-beds and all private rooms. The facility offers patients the most advanced equipment and technology available.
Quick Facts
- DNV-GL accredited
- 76 licensed beds
- 28,420 Emergency Center visits annually
- 4,000 surgeries annually
- 449 births annually
Economic Impact
- $21.1 million in wages paid
- $7.6 million in community benefits (including charity and uncompensated care)
- $127 million total economic impact
From a humble beginning of only eight hospital beds, the hospital has grown into one of the leading regional health care providers in Southwest Georgia meeting the health care needs of the community it serves.
