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1 Ins Perry Hospital to get $4.5 million expansion, addition By LARRY HITCHCOCK News Editor Sometime in 1996, it will be a lot easier to have a baby at Perry Hospital. And there will be more room for surgery patients as well. The state has approved the hospital’s application for a certificate of need to change its current obstetric set-up from , seven beds to six labor-delivery-recov ery-post partum rooms (birthing suites) and to add two operating rooms. Estimated cost of the project is $4,485,000, including a new healing, ventilation and air conditioning sys tem. “We received approval on Dec. 15,” County Oks repairs for flood-damaged bridge Other contengency spending requests are tabled for more study By LARRY HITCHCOCK News Editor After approving spending $50,000 from the county’s contingency fund to pay for a box culvert to replace Knodishall Drive Bridge, members of the Houston County Commission Tues day morning decided to table other proposals which would require further contingency fund money until they could get a clearer look at just where the fund stood. The county jail prisoner boarding deficit sparked die discussion of con tingency fund spending when the county health department asked for $75,000 to help it make it through the City, county officials look to busy year during 1995 with many questions to be resolved By LARRY HITCHCOCK News Editor The city of Perry will probably ex pand its city limits and work to con tinue providing its residents with all the services they request within the limits ofiisfinancialcapabilitiesduring 1995. The Houston County government will be trying to find answers to two major space problems in the court house and the county jail and help Rsesns Air Force Base get through the Base Realignment and Closure Com mission hearings. The Georgia National Fair and Agricenter is looking forward to an other successful year with the sixth fair andother events. Perry Hospital will begin work on a major change in the way babies come into the world. Last year was a good one for Perry and Houston County in every way ex cept the weather. The July flood dealt most government agencies a stiff blow to the pocketbook, but as 1995 gets under way, repairs and replacements for flood-damaged facilities are well on theirway to completion. “We are in a state of transition in the Perry city government,” Mayor Jim Worrall said. “Our number one priority will be to get our new city manager, Phillip Clark, on board this month. Once that happens, we’ll be ready to make 1995 another good year for our citizens.” Worrall said he expects the city to »®f9 );;;■: ';■' ‘f| ;V ' '' «S?W'WT; Houston County Probats Judgs Frances Annis (left) admisters the loyalty oath to newly sworn in county officials Friday morning at the Courthouse. The group included county commissioners, schcc-: board members, Judges and other county officials. u.o. 41 to be closed Bridge repairs are necessary - 3A 50 Cl Houston Times-Journal Volume 125-No. 84 12 Pages Official Legal Organ for Houston County, City of Perry and the State of Georgia Mary Jane Kinnas, hospital spokes man, said. The application had been submitted last July. The new birthing suite concept, in which a single room is used for the entire birth experience from admission to discharge, offers a family-centered approach with a home-like environ ment in private rooms which allows for family participation. Such facilities reportedly result in greater efficiency and lower operating costs than those associated obstetric services with separate labor, delivery and post-partum rooms, Kinnas said. ‘The next step to get the architect at work drawing up the plans and then get fiscal year which ends June 30. Commissioner Larry Snellgrove suggested the commission dip into the county’s indigent care funds to take care of the request, although he sug gested giving the health department $50,000 instead of the requested $75,000. Snellgrove also included in his mo tion to take $121,250 which remained in the indigent care fund and allocate it to the jail to help offset the deficit there. The county jail is approximately $230,000 over budget for the first six months of the fiscal year. It has already spent $330,000, well over the bud expand it city limits west this year. “We expea to get a request to annex the airport from the airport authority,” Worrall said. “We don’t want to force annexation on anyone. We’ve tradi tionally annexed property only when requested and I expect we’ll continue that way. Once the airport is annexed, however, I think we ’ll have some home owners in that area wan t to be included. I’ve heard they have some water prob lems out there.” The next leg of the Perry Parkway and the Perry Industrial Park are also likely to receive plenty of attention from the Perry city government this year. “We’ve got to get work started on the next leg of the Perry Parkway,” Worrall said, “from U.S. 341 to the industrial park and then we’ll be able to get the marketing of the industrial park started. We’ve got two companies there now, out with the four-lane highway to the park, we need to start marketing it and get more companies there.” The opening of the new Recreation Center at Rozar Park will give the residents of Perry more opportunities “and I hope the community will utilize it,” the mayor said. Perry has the same problem as most municipalities financing services. “The (Houston County) tax cap is killing us,” Worrall said. “Sometimes it’s difficult for the people to under stand why we have to say ‘No’ to seme requests for services. We hope to be Panthers third at Brawl '94 Hornets third at Tattnall Holiday Tourney 6A the Houston County Hospital Author ity to approve them. Construction may start in the second quarter of this year,” Kinnas said. “We anticipate a 9-12 monih con struction period and expect the project to be complete in 1996,” she said. The hospital anticipates a 9.5 per cent growth rate in the number of new babies, with 461 expected in 1996. There were 351 births at the hospital during 1993. The hospital also plans to recruit two new obstetric/gynecologist physi cians to join the staff. In addition to the changes in the obstetric unit, Perry Hospital will reno geted SIOO,OOO for boarding prisoners in other jails due to overcrowding of local facilities. During die discussion preceding the vote, Snellgrove suggested a freeze on spending from the contingency fund. After the $50,000t0 replace Knodishall Bridge was deducted from the fund, Director ofManagement Services Steve Engle told the commission approxi mately $569,780 remained in the con tingency fund. The jail deficit was projected to reach as much as $400,000 by the end of the fiscal year and Snellgrove then asked for the freeze on contingency spending. able to continue to provide the needed services without a tax increase. We’ve streamlined our government to keep from raising taxes.” Consolidation of services with the county is still being considered, Wor rall said, but he suggested taking it a step at a time. “It needs to start slowly,” the mayor said. “Centralized purchasing for the county and the three city governments would save everybody money. Plan ning and zoning might be better done together. That way, everyone would have the same rules. Building inspec tions would be another area we could consolidate.” The library is one area Perry won’t cut back, Worrall said. “The library is very important to the citizens of Perry and I don’t think Perry is even consid ering stopping its share of funding. I think the problem will be resolved with out any major damage being done to the library system.” Worrall said he would like to see the Perry Players theater expand and the community get more involved. “Ex panding our cultural opportunities is important when we try to attract new industries,” the mayor said. Another area Worrall would like to see more community involvement is on the economic side. “Somehow, this community needs to rally behind the small merchants, both downtown and throughout the city. I hope that through a joint effort vate the existing two operating rooms and add two more to accommodate an increase in outpatient and inpatient surgical procedures. The hospital anticipates a 5.7 per cent increase in surgical procedures and will recruit additional surgeons in orthopedics and ophthalmology. The existing surgical suite was built in 1968 as part of the original hospital and has not been remodeled. Included in the certificate of need project is the HV AC system to meet the needs of the new facilities. It is to be housed in a separate 3,500-square-foot building. His suggestion, as well as a request to apply for a Department of Commu nity Affairs matching grant to conduct a feasibility study of the possibility of ajointjaileffortamong Houston, Dooly and Pulaski counties, was tabled until the next commission meeting so the health of the contingency fund could be determined. The next commission meeting is scheduled for Jan. 16 at 7 pjn. at the County Annex Building, 200 Carl Vin son Parkway in Warner Robins. Commission Calvin Maye was elected vice chairman of the com mission, succeeding Snellgrove in the post. among the chamber, city government and the people of Perry, we can revital ize the downtown area. We need to create an atmosphere to get people to shop with the small merchants,” Wor rall said. Houston County Commission Chairman Sherrill Stafford says get ting ready for the BRAC hearings scheduled for this spring on the future of Robins Air Force Base is the county’s major priority as the new year begins. “In 1993, the base came out okay,” Stafford said, “and we feel like the base will emee again come it through the process with flying colors. The com mission has worked with the base to do everything we can to insure it will receive a good rating. The encroach ment problem has been resolved and the military value of Robins is well known to the Department of Defense.” Jail overcrowding is probably the biggest problem facing the county in 1995. “In the first six months of the fiscal year, we spent $330,000 on boarding prisoners,” Stafford said. “We only budgeted SIOO,OOO. If the Legislature will allow us to set uparegional author ity where we to things together, say with Dooly and Pulaski counties to establish a tri-county jail, it would cer tainly help all three counties.” Stafford said he will assign a com missioner to look over a committee report presented just before Christmas on the space problems at the court - house and see how the available court house space can be best utilized. Other topics the county will work on this year include getting the county in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and the continuing re location of county and state agencies to the area around Georgia 96 and Hous ton Lake Road. “The courthouse is not in compli ance with the disabilities act,” Stafford said, “and we must get that done to meet the deadline.” Relocating the Board of Elections office is another “must” for the county, Stafford said. “We will keep on actively trying to find ways to consolidate services that will benefit residents of the county and the three cities. Building inspections and planning and zoning seem to be good places to start,” he said. The relocation of several state and county offices to the Georgia 96-Hous ton Lake Road area is not pan of a grand scheme to move the county seat from Perry to Warner Robins, Stafford (See YEAR, page 3A) * \ ,j ml * 'JSsSmS' ■’ -.m ’ '•l 'ii W »g^, ’isMpr ss§& • ? «3HK|yv ■. Jolene Bennett, obstetrics supervisor at Perry Hospital, straight ens the bed linens on a labor bed at the hospital. The state approved the hospital's certificate of need to renovate the labor-delivery recovery-post-partum facilities at the hospital and remodel the surgical suite. City picks new manager From Staff Reports Phillip Clark, a sales representative for a Kansas-based office supply firm and former planning director for the Macon-BibbCountyPlanningandZon ing Department, will take over as Perry City Manager next week. Clark’s appointment to the post was announced byidayor Jim Worrall. Clark has worked as executive di rector of the Oconee Regional Devel opment Center at Milledgeville, the Florida Department of Transportation and the city of Roswell, where he was a planning and zoning administrator. Clark said he had 18 years in plan ning and city government positions and he was looking forward to starting Georgia Bureau of Investigations Special Agent Jack White (right) visits with Lindsey Bell. White is raising money to enter a marathon to support leukemia research, from which Bell is in remission. White to raise funds for leukemia society marathon By PAULINE LEWIS Society Editor Jack White, Special Agentin Charge of the Region 13 Georgia Bureau of Investigation office in Perry, will, if he qualifies, be part of the 16-member Georgia Team running for the Leuke mia Society of America. Each team member will be running in honor of a person who has had, or has, leukemia. White immediately thought of Lindsey Bell, daughter of Duren and Cathy Bell of Perry and fellow church members with White and his family at First Baptist Church. Lindsey Bell was diagnosed in July 1991 and started treatment at that time. She went through 2 1/2 years of che motherapyatEglestonChildren’s Hos pital in Atlanta and has remained in Index to Features Classified 11A Joyce Compton 4A Deaths 2A Sports 6A Phil Clark 6A Church News 8A Legals 10A Wedding 5A Larry Hitchcock 4A Remember when4A WEDNESDAY,JANUARY 4,1995 his new job in Perry. Clark graduated from Florida State University and earned his master’s de gree in city and regional planning at Southern Illinois University. Clark replaces Janice Williams, Perry finance director, who had been serving as interim city manager since Marion Hay resigned in June. Hay be came county administrator of Colquitt County at Moultrie Tuesday. Worrall said Williams would retain her position as finance manager and he would ask city council approval for her to be named assistant city manager. Williams had been one of three fi nalists for the vacancy. remission since then. Each member must prepare for the marathon by increasing their mileage each week to peak on race day, April 30. The 26-mile Big Sur Marathon at Carmel, Calif., will be run along the rugged Pacific Coast Scenic Highway, the nation’s first designated Scenic Highway. He will fly out on Friday, race on Saturday, and return to Perry on Sunday. Rain or shine, White must run daily in order to prepare for the marathon. He must also raise $2,500 for the Leuke mia Society; SI,OOO must be raised by Feb. 28; and the remainder by March 31, and forwarded to the Leukemia Society to be used in leukemia re (See WHITE, Page 7A)