T'ville hospital seeking HUD financing deal
By Arthur McLean Editor

The Southwest Alabama Medical Center completed its pre-application process with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a government backed loan to build a new $35 million hospital in Thomasville.

HUD officials confirmed that pre-application materials were filed with the agency at the end of January.

Anne Thompson, Executive Vice President of the hospital's parent company, Resurgence Health Group out of metro Atlanta is also currently serving as the hospital's CEO, splitting her time between the medical center here and the corporate offices in Georgia.

"We're delaying the recruitment of a full-time CEO until the end of the HUD application process because it's a very technical process involving lots of tours and inspections," Thompson said. "Rather than bringing in someone unfamiliar with the hospital and community right now, I'd rather do that myself."

To help with running the day to day hospital operations, former director of nursing, Lisa Sims, has been promoted to the new position of Chief Operations Officer. All departments that are not financial in nature will report to her now, Thompson said.

That allows Thompson to focus on physician recruit- and the HUD application process.

The application is for a federally backed financing package that would build the new hospital. The hospital was expected to have its completed financial reports to the department by the end of the month. After that, Thompson said, HUD would review the data and make a decision on whether it would invite the hospital to make formal application for a loan package.

The pre-application also included a listing of interested parties that would help the hospital, conceptual drawings of the proposed new hospital, a defined site for the new hospital, agreements with a general contractor and forecasts for the next three operating years.

Often the formal application is not as long as the pre-application, Thompson said. A HUD spokesman said the department often works very closely with hospitals once they enter the formal application process to help them through it.

Once the hospital enters the formal application process, it will have to provide more specifics about the proposed hospital, Thompson said.

Once a new hospital is built, the city will have to pay $1 million to purchase the old hospital building, according to the sales agreement approved by the city council in 2003.

A new CEO will be hired once the hospital is through the application process, Thompson said.

"As we start to look for a CEO, that person's role will be a little bit different from the past and will be more outwardly oriented with physicial recruitment," Thompson said. The new CEO will also be more focused on community and state level issue in helping the hospital and its role in the community.

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