MOULTRIE, Ga. – Colquitt Regional recently held a ground breaking for its new medical education building. Members of the Colquitt County Hospital Authority, Colquitt Regional hospital administration, Colquitt Regional Foundation board, faculty of Georgia South Graduate Medical Education, and representatives of Ameris Bank gathered on Monday, September 26, for a ceremony to celebrate the addition.
The new two-story facility will boast over 39,000 sq. ft. of space and will be located on the north side of the Colquitt Regional campus, behind Vereen Rehabilitation Center. The first floor will house the Colquitt Regional Educational Services department. The second floor will be home to Georgia South Family Medicine Residency Program and clinic, Georgia South Psychiatry Residency Program and future clinic, and offices for affiliated physicians, faculty, and staff.
“Providing quality medical education is vital to training, recruiting, and retaining physicians,” said Colquitt Regional President and CEO Jim Matney. “Over the past year, Colquitt Regional has acquired state-of-the-art simulation equipment that will be housed in the new medical education building once it is open. Through this new education center, we will be providing high-caliber training opportunities for medical learners not only at our hospital, but other institutions as well.”
The plans also include four simulation rooms, a computer lab, classroom space, an auditorium, and a skills lab for students and staff to practice clinical procedures in a learning environment.
Each simulation room will be devoted to one of the following disciplines: labor and delivery, medical/surgical, intensive care, and trauma. They will mimic Colquitt Regional’s hospital rooms to allow for training that is as close to a real-life scenario as possible. Each room will have a high-fidelity manikin that can be programmed to respond to the learning environment to train providers in best practices and events.
The education building will be utilized by a number of medical learners including physicians, nurses, paramedics, and nurse assistants. Georgia South residents, in particular, will greatly benefit from having hands-on learning experiences within these new, high-tech environments.
Georgia South Family Medicine Residency Program was first established in 2016 to meet the growing need for family medicine physicians in the region and has graduated 13 resident physicians to-date. Georgia South Psychiatry Residency Program welcomed its first class in July 2022 and currently has four residents-in-training.
“As we continue to grow our medical education programs, we want to provide our residents with the resources they need for success,” said Matney. “This new facility will not only provide those resources for them, but will immerse them into a culture of continuing education, which will allow them to sharpen their skillset and hone their expertise.”
In 2018, Colquitt Regional graciously accepted a $2 million pledge from Ameris Bank. This pledge, which was paid through the Georgia HEART rural tax credit program, will largely go towards the construction of the facility. The building will be named Ameris Bank Medical Educational Building in honor of the generous contributions from Ameris.
“We applaud the vision of Colquitt Regional Medical Center to advance medical education and service in Moultrie, which is where Ameris Bank was founded 51 years ago,” said Ameris Bank and Ameris Bancorp CEO H. Palmer Proctor, Jr. “With these deep roots and our ongoing commitment to Moultrie, we are proud to see the contribution from Ameris used to build a facility that we know will support the community for many years to come.”
The Georgia HEART rural tax program allows Georgia residents to reallocate their state tax dollars to qualified rural hospital organizations. With funds through Georgia HEART, Colquitt Regional has been able to make facility infrastructure upgrades and service line additions, such as the renovation and expansion of the Edwards Cancer Center and its radiation oncology unit. It is anticipated the majority of the funds received through Georgia HEART next year will aid in the construction of the new education building.
Colquitt Regional’s Ameris Bank Medical Education Building is projected to open in summer 2023.
“Over the past six years, we have seen tremendous growth in medical education, and a large share of that is due to our community partnerships,” said Hospital Authority Chairman Richard E. Turner, Jr. “With the support of partners like Ameris Bank, we have been able to bring countless services and physicians to Colquitt Regional and establish two residency programs. Our collective goal is to create a steady pipeline of well-equipped, competent medical professionals for our health system and the region, which, ultimately, provides increased access to care for our patients and communities.
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Caption: Colquitt Regional held a ground breaking for its new Ameris Bank Medical Education Building on Monday, September 26. Pictured is Jim Matney, Colquitt Regional President and CEO, center, and H. Palmer Proctor,Jr., Ameris Bank and Ameris Bancorp CEO, right of center, along with members of the Colquitt County Hospital Authority, Colquitt Regional Foundation Board, Georgia South Graduate Medical Education, and Ameris Bank senior leadership.
