About The Lee County ledger. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1978-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2019)
The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, July 24, 2019, Page 7A Phoebe Completes New Community Health Needs Assessment Special to the Ledger The Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital board of directors Wednesday approved updated community health priorities follow ing a rigorous evalua tion of the area’s most pressing public health issues. As a not-for- profit hospital, Phoebe undertakes a commu nity health needs as sessment (CHNA) every three years to identify health problems Phoebe should take an active leadership role in trying to solve. “Our staff spent the last 10 months analyz ing the most up-to-date public health data for the Albany area and meeting with commu nity leaders to get their input. We worked to narrow our priorities to focus on the greatest needs and the problems on which we believe we can have the most posi tive impact,” said Joe Austin, Phoebe Chief Operating Officer. The priorities that Phoebe and community partners will focus on during the next three years are: 1. Improving birth outcomes and reproduc tive responsibility 2. Preventing and managing diabetes 3. Cancer prevention and treatment 4. Behavioral health and addictive disease advocacy “Three of our pri orities remain largely the same, and we will continue projects aimed at improving outcomes related to those priori ties,” Austin said. “We decided to add cancer to our priority list this year because our region has unusually high rates for multiple types of cancer, and we believe coordinated public education and wellness campaigns could help improve those rates.” Cervical cancer is one example that will be a focus of efforts over the next three years. According to the Na tional Cancer Institute, Dougherty County has one of the highest cervi cal cancer incidence rates in the country; however, 90% of all cervical cancer caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) could be wiped out through vac cine treatment recom mended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “As the primary provider of healthcare services in our area, Phoebe has a respon sibility not only to continue to expand access to quality care, but to work diligently to help the people we serve focus on their own health and wellness so they can live happier and healthier lives,” said Scott Steiner, Phoebe President & CEO. Over the next three years, Phoebe will seek out and work with multiple community partners to develop and implement programs to Students Named to Kennesaw State University’s President’s List Special to the Ledger Kennesaw State Uni versity recently named students to the Presi dent’s List, in recogni tion of their academic excellence for the Spring 2019 semester. To achieve this honor, each student must have com pleted at least 9 semester hours with a term grade point average of 4.0. Area President’s List recipients include: Ashley Ausburn of Leesburg Juwan Henderson of Albany Dhavan Patel of Leesburg Chandler Alexander of Albany Jordan Simpkins of Albany Jon Pope of Leesburg Kelsey King of Leesburg Ekaterina Mathes of Leesburg Jamilyah Henderson of Albany Courtney Haas of Leesburg A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State Uni versity is one of the 50 largest public institu tions in the country. KSU offers more than 150 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 35,000 students. With 13 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Ken nesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia and the third- largest university in the state. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, en trepreneurial spirit, and Division I athletics draw students from through out the region and from 92 countries across the globe. Ranked a top choice for students by U.S. News, Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-des ignated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu. Georgia sets jobs record Special to the Ledger State Labor Com missioner Mark Butler said today that Georgia added more than 20,000 jobs in June, pushing the state to a new record high. Butler also noted that preliminary numbers showed year-over-year gains in employment and workforce. At the same time, claims for unemployment insur ance were near record lows. “The numbers for June are very impressive,” Butler said. “We set yet another record for jobs, passing 4.6 million. Fewer people filed un employment claims and our number of employed residents is climbing. There’s plenty to be encouraged about in the June report.” Nationally, the unem ployment rate inched up 0.1 percent points in June to reach 3.7 percent. Georgia’s rate dropped 0.1 percent age points to settle at 3.7 percent. A year ago, Georgia’s unemploy ment rate sat at 3.9 percent. Meanwhile, Georgia added 20,200 jobs in June, pushing the total to 4.61 million jobs - a new record for the state. That number is up more than 80,000 from the same time last year. Georgia had four job sectors that added more than 2,000 jobs in June: Education/health ser vices, 3,600 Information, 2,900 Profes sional/busines s services, 2,700 Leisure/hospitality, 2,200. In terms of annual change, education/health services, professional/ business services, lei sure/hospitality and con struction and all added 10,000 or more jobs. In June, the number of employed residents went up for the first time in four months. The gain of 2,175 in June brought Georgia’s number of employed to 4.91 mil lion. Georgia’s labor force slipped again in June, dropping by less than 1,500 versus a total work force of more than 5.1 million. And, even with the monthly loss, the labor force total was Gas Prices Fall Slightly Special to the Ledger Georgia gas prices have fallen 1.2 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.59/g, ac cording to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 5,883 stations. Gas prices in Georgia are 20.3 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, yet stand 6.1 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. According to Gas- Buddy price reports, the cheapest station in Geor gia is priced at $2.27/g today while the most ex pensive is $3.09/g, a dif ference of 82.0 cents per gallon. The lowest price in the state today is $2.27/g while the highest is $3.09/g, a difference of 82.0 cents per gal lon. The cheapest price in the entire country stands at $2.06/g while the most expensive is $5.49/g, a difference of $3.43/g. The national aver age price of gasoline has fallen 3.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.76/g. The national average is up 10.9 cents per gallon from a month ago, yet stands 6.7 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. Historical gasoline prices in Georgia and the national average go ing back a decade: July 22, 2018: $2.66/g (U.S. Average: $2.82/g) July 22, 2017: $2.13/g (U.S. Average: $2.28/g) July 22, 2016: $2.01/g (U.S. Average: $2.17/g) July 22, 2015: $2.59/g (U.S. Average: $2.75/g) July 22, 2014: $3.47/g (U.S. Average: $3.56/g) July 22, 2013: $3.53/g (U.S. Average: $3.67/g) July 22, 2012: $3.35/g (U.S. Average: $3.46/g) July 22, 2011: $3.72/g (U.S. Average: $3.69/g) July 22, 2010: $2.57/g (U.S. Average: $2.69/g) July 22, 2009: $2.27/g (U.S. Average: $2.44/g) Neighboring areas and their current gas prices: Augusta- $2.58/g, down 5.5 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.64/g. Macon- $2.58/g, up 1.7 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.57/g. Atlanta- $2.71/g, down 3.9 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.75/g. in June still higher than the same month a year ago. At the same time, fewer residents were filing new claims for unemploy ment. The total number of claims filed in June, at 18,410, was the second lowest filed in the past 45 years. New claims for unem ployment were down by about 11 percent com pared with last month. When compared to June of 2018, claims were down by 16 percent. In June, EmployGeor- gia.com noted just under 80,000 job postings. Visit dol.georgia.gov to learn more about career opportunities, Employ Georgia and other GDOL services for job seekers and employ ers and to connect with them on social media. address the priorities approved Wednesday by the board. “We look forward to continuing the work of task forces formed following our last com munity health needs assessment and devot ing more resources to cancer prevention over the next several years,” Steiner said. “The Phoebe Cancer Center is a special place, and we certainly have the talent, technology and commitment necessary to make a true differ ence in the incidence and treatment of cancer in our region.” Tim Hunter CPA 'CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT QuickBooks ProAdvisor Accounting | Payroll | Tax (229)759-1040 N ^www.timhuntercpa.com BRUNE Lawn Care Lawn Maintenance • Hedge Maintenance Pine Straw • Mulch • Clean Up Licensed and Insured Bryan Bruner, Owner • bbruner2010@aol.com 229-869-6641 A BURGLARY OCCURS EVERY 14.6 SECONDS Security System • Fire Systems Camera Systems Call for a FREE Security Review! 522 Pine Ave www.central911.com (229)431-0800 William L. 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