Memorial Hospital employees and medical personnel spent last weekend moving into their offices in the newly constructed Amelia Medical Plaza. On Monday, though not officially open, phones were already ringing, while maintenance workers and technicians were scrambling to get the building ready to see patients on Tuesday, and for the grand opening celebration scheduled for Thursday, April 25, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
As in any new construction there was a “laundry list” of last minute details to be handled.
Plant manager Kenny Stavely, in charge of all maintenance for Memorial Hospital and Manor, was constantly on the phone as he briskly walked the halls, directing the various operations, right down to the hanging of photos and diplomas in the physician’s offices.
Details are much more critical in medical situations. Lab equipment must be calibrated, the temperature of refrigerators holding vaccines monitored, and hot water temperatures in each examining room must be affirmed. A massive server for the phone and computer systems was being fine tuned.
The 14,176 square-foot building, focusing on primary care, has 24 examining rooms. Currently it will house six physicians, a nurse practitioner, seven full-time nurses and host of clerical staff, with room to expand to eight physicians.
Those with medical offices in the new plaza are: Kerwyn L. Flowers, D.O., Prysca Ngalame, M.D., Ileana Popa, M.D., Omar Al Haddad, M.D., Shawn Surratt, M.D., Katherine Wiegman, M.D. and Angie Tyus, FNP-C. Office hours are extended for Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The main phone number to reach all offices is (229) 243-6900.
The clerical staff, all relocated from previously separate physician offices, are now assimilated under one roof and one entity — Amelia Medical Plaza. On Monday morning they were all getting acquainted with the equipment, the office space and with each other.
The large waiting room has been decorated and furnished with proceeds from Hospital Foundation fund raisers, the most recent of which was Derby Night. Large photos of Bainbridge scenes decorate the walls.
Meanwhile outside, earth-moving equipment was rushing to finish leveling the ground around the storm water holding pond, in preparation for final paving and landscaping.
Stavely said construction on the new building, which began last July, has been a lot of fun. He had high praise for Doug Young and PDC Construction, saying they were flexible and easy to work with.
A contest held among medical personnel to name the new building was won by Denease Harrison, an employee in Dr. Aric Aldridge’s office, who submitted the name that was chosen by the Hospital Authority.