Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 5A
The extended education family
NGMC
LOOKING FOR
someone or some
thing to blame for
public schools that
are somewhat less
than perfect? Take
your pick: federal
government, state
government, local
government, gov
ernment in gen
eral, school boards,
superintendents,
principals, teachers, coaches,
lunch room ladies, bus driv
ers, custodians, students who
don’t care, parents who don’t
parent, and critics like me
who don’t have a clue.
Some of us believe that
government (federal and
state) should quit legislat
ing curriculum and handing
down mandates (without
funds to carry them out) and
free up teachers to do the job
they were educated to do.
School boards, administra
tors and teachers are always
fair game when something
goes awry.
And here of late, parents
have been taking a lot of
heat.
That hurts, and I don’t like
it one bit! I am the son of
parents. I am the parent of
four kids, the grandparent
of five, and the great-grand
parent of one. All but one of
us are proud beneficiaries of
public education, and little
Elizabeth, not yet a year old,
is being prepared to receive
the blessing. Did you know
that every kid in every school
this morning would not be
there if it were not for par
ents. So get off our backs!
❖ ❖❖
And yet the beat goes on. I
didn't have room in “My two
cents" worth of education’’
column on March 10 for Jim
Wooten’s two cents’ worth.
I share his thoughts today
for two reasons. One, when
Jim Wooten speaks, people
listen. Two, he gives me an
opportunity to defend two
parents who are no longer
with us. I am talking about
my Mama and Daddy.
Jim is a conservative inside
and out. He is the retired
associate editorial page edi
tor of that liberal newspa
per, The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution.
“What’s wrong with public
education?’’ he asked. Jim
answered his own question,
and he didn’t pull any punch
es.
First: “parents who object
to efforts to maintain disci
pline.”
(Jim, I wish you had
known my Mom and Dad. If
you are as old as I am, you
remember when parents not
only supported - but encour
aged - teachers to maintain
discipline. And if we got in
trouble at school, we were
in trouble at home. I don’t
recall my folks ever asking
me if I did it. They believed
that if Miss Lucille said I did
it, I did it. End of story.)
❖ ❖❖
Second: “students who dis
regard simple instructions.”
(I can remember when
disregarding any of Miss
Lucille's instructions - sim
ple or complex - was not an
option. I don't sup
pose students and
teachers “stay in"
these days, but Miss
Lucille and I - and
a few other delin
quents - “stayed in"
until we got it right.
I don’t know if Miss
Lucille got overtime
pay. Probably not.)
❖ ❖❖
Third: “parents
who don’t parent before the
child hits school.”
(Some of us old-timers
got a head start before head
start was cool. We didn't get
in much trouble at school
because we didn't get in
much trouble at home when
we were little. We didn't
shirk our assignments at
school because our Mamas
and Daddies saw to it that
we didn't shirk our chores at
home.)
I believe with all my heart
that I fell in love with words
because of my Mama. She
read to me long before I
started to school.
I love to read almost as
much as I love to fish. I’m
sure I love to fish because my
Daddy loved it. He taught me
to keep my hook in the water
before I was big enough to
bait my hook and hold my
pole with one hand.
(Some of Daddy’s friends,
sitting around the pot-bellied
stove in Mr. Jim Garner’s
store in McLemoresville,
Tenn. (population 311 if you
count dogs, cats and chick
ens), used to make fun of
him for fishing “all the time"
and ruining his two boys, tak
ing them with him. Daddy’s
response was always the
same: “There ain't no fisher
men in jail.”)
I used to think psycholo
gists and psychiatrists were
crazy when they said our
personality and character and
all that stuff were instilled in
us at a very early age, even
before we started to school.
Now that I am an old man,
and haven’t been in jail yet,
I’ve decided they may be
right.
And I have decided that
education is a family affair.
It’s not just parents and kids
and teachers. It’s an extended
family. It also includes gov
ernment at local, state and
federal levels; school boards,
administrators and princi
pals: lunch room ladies, bus
drivers and custodians, and
everyone who is reading this
right now.
And yes, it's easy to find
fault with every member of
the family. But if we look
just beneath the surface of
failure and blame, we can
find success and credit.
Without us being here
together, we are almost alone.
“Education is the progressive
discovery of our own igno
rance.” Let’s get involved in
the search.
And let’s all of us thank
God for parents and teachers
... and the future they hold
in their hands, hearts and
intellect.
Virgil Adams is a former
owner/editor of The Jackson
Herald.
virgil
adams
wins court
battle
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A LONG-PLANNED
— and legally challenged
— hospital can be built in
Braselton, the Georgia Court
of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
The court ruled in favor
of Northeast Georgia
Medical Center’s plans to
build a 100-bed hospital
on Thompson Mill Road in
South Hall by overturning
a Barrow County Superior
Court judge’s previous deci
sion in the case.
With the ruling, Northeast
Georgia Medical Center has
been approved to build the
estimated $209 million med
ical campus in Braselton.
“We're just glad, frankly,
to have this behind us so
that we can focus on taking
care of the community and
all of those in Northeast
Georgia," said Jim Gardner,
president and CEO of
Northeast Georgia Health
System.
The Gainesville-based
health system plans to open
its Braselton hospital in
2014.
In the meantime, Northeast
Georgia will review its
plans for the 119-acre medi
cal campus. The complex
is dubbed “River Place at
Braselton.”
“The next step will be to
go back and completely re
assess the planning horizon
and all the details associ
ated with this project — in
essence work again to con
firm that we're doing the
right kind of project consis
tent with our (Certificate of
Need) application," Gardner
said.
Gardner doesn’t anticipate
any major changes to the
development, but a second
medical office building on
the property could be built
before the hospital opens.
“We were confident that
we’d see a positive ruling
at the end of all of this,
which is why we made the
very significant investment
in River Place I — which
is the first medical office
building,” he said.
Northeast Georgia opened
its Medical Plaza I in 2008
and it now includes an urgent
care center, outpatient imag
ing center, outpatient lab
and rehabilitation services
and physician offices with
numerous specialties.
Medical Plaza I has
successfully leased all of
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MEDICAL OFFICE BUILDING
Medical Plaza I is the first medical office building at Northeast Georgia Health
System’s proposed Braselton medical complex. A second medical office building
may open before a new hospital opens in 2014.
its available space and
Northeast Georgia is eye
ing the “strong possibility”
of building Medical Plaza
II prior to opening the new
hospital, Gardner said.
“There have been any
number of physicians that
have contacted the health
system over the last couple
of years that are standing
by (saying), ‘When are you
going to get the hospital?"
And now that we have that
hospital, I think a lot of
pent up demand will come
to bear,” he said.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The long-awaited legal
decision on whanever
Northeast Georgia could
move forward with its pro
posed Braselton hospital
also has a major economic
implication, too.
Once opened, the new
hospital is expected to cre
ate more than 500 jobs in
Braselton.
“Obviously, it's an impor
tant economic development
project for our town,” said
Braselton town manager
Jennifer Dees. “Our (com
prehensive) plan has iden
tified the area where the
hospital was proposed as an
activity center.”
The proposed hospital
— which is located next to
The Village at Deaton Creek
and near Chateau Elan —
has been seen as an anchor
for other medical-relat
ed businesses in the area,
such as additional physi
cian offices. Some develop
ers have proposed medical
offices in their projects in
Braselton, if the hospital
received approval.
“I have no doubt that
the hospital will continue
to fuel the growth of that
region," Gardner said.
With the court’s ruling,
Braselton will consider
moving forward with a grant
application to help fund a
new sewer line in the area,
Dees said.
Braselton will provide
sewer service to the new
hospital, while Gainesville
will provide water service,
she added.
LEGAL BATTLE
The legal battle over
Northeast Georgia’s pro
posed hospital started in
November 2006, when the
health system filed an appli
cation with the Georgia
Department of Community
Health seeking a Certificate
of Need (CON) for a
new 100-bed hospital in
Braselton.
The proposed facility
was located in South Hall,
about 11 miles from Barrow
Regional Medical Center.
Northeast Georgia had
initially planned to close
its Lanier Park hospital in
Gainesville and designate
the Braselton hospital as a
replacement facility.
Barrow Regional submit
ted an objection to the appli
cation, saying there was no
need for a new hospital.
At the request of the DCH,
Northeast Georgia amended
its application, which was
approved by the state in
April 2007. B arrow Regional
appealed that decision and
a hearing officer rejected
the Winder hospital’s argu
ments in December 2007.
Barrow Regional filed an
appeal with the superior
court of Barrow County,
which reversed the DCH’s
final decision. Northeast
Georgia then filed an appeal
of that decision with the
Georgia Court of Appeals,
which ruled in favor of the
Gainesville-based health
system on Tuesday.
GARDNER
Barrow County Superior
Court Judge Bob Adamson
had ruled in December 2008
that the DCH abused its
discretion in approving the
CON for the Braselton hos
pital.
However, the state court
of appeals ruled that the
DCH had a rational basis
for granting Northeast
Georgia its application for
a CON for the proposed
facility. The superior court
— the appeals court judges
wrote — erred in conclud
ing otherwise.
“This should close
that chapter,” Northeast
Georgia’s Gardner said.
“The ruling is very straight
forward.”
Winder HMA — which
operates Barrow Regional
— had contended in court
documents that a new hos
pital in Braselton could
adversely affect the finan
cially struggling facil
ity, especially with fewer
insured patients coming to
Barrow Regional. Most of
Barrow Regional's affluent
insured patients are located
near the proposed South
Hall hospital.
A representative for
Barrow Regional couldn’t
be reached before press
deadline.
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