For Posterity

The following is a copy of a letter received by my girlfriend from Stephen W. Mahan, President and CEO, Southern Regional Health System –


September 1, 2010

[removed my girlfriend’s name and address]
[removed the salutation]

Earlier this year, Southern Regional Health System filed a Certificate of Need application with the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) for state approval to provide open heart surgery. On June 23, we announced our withdrawal of that application to evaluate feedback from DCH and make a determination about how best to proceed in the face of continued opposition to our efforts by Piedmont Healthcare.


After much consideration, we decided this is not the right time to resubmit our open heart surgery application. However, we are not abandoning our efforts to bring advanced cardiac care to the Southern Crescent. We will continue to monitor the situation as we still believe the Southern Crescent is in need of this critical, life-saving medical treatment.


Additionally, we recently obtained regulatory approval from DCH to provide angioplasty (PCI) services independent of the Cardiovascular Patient Outcomes Research Team study, better known as C-PORT. This approval will enable us to expand access to our high-quality PCI services. Thanks to our experience with the C-PORT trial, Southern Regional is already one of the most experienced PCI providers in the state, and we are very well-positioned to better address our community’s needs for local cardiac interventions.


I want to thank you for the support you showed Southern Regional Health System during the Certificate of Need process. We are committed to providing the highest quality care and needed services to our community, and considered it an honor that our community showed unwavering and overwhelming support in our efforts. In total, over 2,000 letters of support were submitted by patients, families, physicians, nurses, community leaders, and elected officials supporting the need for an open heart surgery program, and recognizing that Southern Regional is the best facility in the Southern Crescent to offer this service.


A significant number of other initiatives are taking place at the hospital right now, and I hope your support for these programs will continue. The Bariatric Center at Southern Regional, which opened in 2009, is set to graduate its’ first class of successful weight-loss patients. The Georgia Orthopedic Institute is helping patients get back to living with its’ advanced joint replacement and minimally-invasive surgical options. Our robotic surgery program also continues to expand, which allows patients to have minimally invasive surgery with quicker recovery times and enhanced outcomes.


Once again, thank you for your support of the Southern Regional Health System. If you have any questions about the open heart surgery Certificate of Need application or any other hospital matters, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.


Sincerely,


Stephen W. Mahan, FACHE
President and CEO
Southern Regional Health System

Things I Hope No One Ever Asks Again #1

What if everyone knew the day they were going to die as surely as they knew the day they were born?
Looking for loopholes? Let's pretend suicide won't work. No way out. The day is THE DAY. The end doesn't have to surprise us, but any attempt to cheat would fail.
Would we celebrate the anniversary of our impending deaths, the way some soldiers (such as I) looked forward to getting short, then getting out of the service?
If we knew when, but not how, would someone be able to sell rubber cages as insurance against a horrific end, where we could spend our last hours in the most comfort possible?
Would death become less fearsome, more like a retirement, or would the predictably drive us to madness?