Georgia County Government - March 2009 - (Page 16)

SOUTHEAST GEORGIA continued from page 15 (GEFA) under Zell Miller and former mayor of quaint Willacoochee in Atkinson County – which features perhaps the most unique library in Georgia, housed in an historic Victorian railroad depot building – agrees. His longtime colleague in local government, Boatright, former mayor of Alma and a past member of the DCA Board, also concurs. “We don’t approach problems in a competitive way, or in a way that pits counties and cities against each other vying for money and power. We don’t care who has the ‘power,’ but who can get the job done. This is the only way in which we can achieve progress.” In Boatright’s native Bacon County, county-city cooperation is the order of the day, he asserts, with the county sharing with Alma a county-city complex that houses county and city administrative offices. Fifteen-year veteran of Douglas city government, Lewis, says that in Coffee County, meeting quarterly with the city and the school board has led to great progress. “In all my years with the city and with the Coffee-Douglas Development Authority, I’ve never known a time when the city and county didn’t work closely on all challenges.” Coffee County Administrator Wesley Vickers adds that a new county-city recreation complex wouldn’t have opened without cooperation between the county, city and school board. which will boost accommodations to 75 beds from the current 50. As a “critical access” hospital Bacon County Regional enjoys a higher rate of Medicare reimbursement, and also offers a nursing home and a $1 million daycare facility, adjoining the primary building. County Chairman Boatright, a member of the hospital board and the DCA Board, has promoted grants for such facilities, including the overall progress of health care, elder care and dependent care in Bacon County. Boatright, too, is enthusiastic about Bacon County’s innovative program to sponsor local students going to medical school and bring them back home to work in the community as medical professionals. Ware County has a similar program in place that pays for nursing education, a critical help as the availability of nursing professionals continues plummeting. To offset this shortage, Ware County Hospital funds nursing students, who agree to come back and work in the county. Health Care In this part of rural Georgia, the lack of adequate trauma care is most evident, officials claim. All are on board supporting the efforts of many groups, including ACCG, lobbying the state to establish an efficient and comprehensive trauma care network for Georgia. However, Southeast Georgia officials are also proud of their own region’s “healthy hospitals,” something of a rarity in rural regions where hospitals are more financially strapped and wanting for professional staff than those serving urban areas. Coffee County Regional Hospital is financially sound and has expanded to include a third floor. In Ware County, Satilla Regional Medical Center is thriving; and Bacon County Regional Hospital in Alma is set to undergo a $15 million renovation, 385057 Reeves Construction Company 1/6h CMYKSupplying Quality Asphalt Products Proudly and Inside FeaturePavement Solutions to Georgia Article 1955 Counties Since Visit www.reevescc.com for locations in your area. 4931 Riverside Drive Macon, Georgia 31210 478-474-9092 Public Safety In 2008, $2 million in SPLOST funding bought Ware County nine new fire trucks – 1,500 gallon-per-minute (gpm) pumpers and one 3,500-gpm “super tanker,” attests Brown, and after 2007’s “Summer of Fire,” officials here insist they are “ready for anything” in the way of a fire emergency. Meanwhile, Emergency Preparedness Grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have also been beneficial for the region, with a $96,000 Fire Act Grant topping the federal endowments. Coffee County is also bolstering Emergency Operations, building a HUEY W. SPEARMAN Attorney at Law WAYCROSS CAMPUS 1701 Carswell Avenue Waycross, Georgia 31503 (912) 287-6584 ALMA CAMPUS 426 West 12th Street Alma, Georgia 31510 (912) 632-0951 701 Carswell Avenue Post Ofﬁce Box 2132 Waycross, Georgia 31502-2132 Telephone: (912) 284-9030 Facsimile: (912) 284-9055 E-mail: spearmanlaw@accessatc.net Proudly Supporting Ware County www.okefenokeetech.edu Equal Opportunity Institution 16 GEORGIA COUNTY GOVERNMENT http://www.reevescc.com http://www.okefenokeetech.edu

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Georgia County Government - March 2009 Contents President’s Message County Matters Focus on Southeast Georgia The Georgia Public Service Commission Jerry R. Griffin MPA Scholarship Recipients Named Extension News Research Corner Staff News County Parade Index of Advertisers

Georgia County Government - March 2009

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