Congratulations to Dr. Lisa Wooten Martin!! Best of Bainbridge 2023 – Eye Doctor/Optometrist! We are so proud of your recognition and love having you as part of the MHM team!
Magnolia Women’s Center Updates
Some of the Georgia HEART funds received are being used to improve the Magnolia Women’s Center, Kirbo Women’s Center, and Memorial Pediatric Center. The improvements include new flooring, wall paint, furniture and more for the offices. The areas are still a work in progress, but we wanted to give you a peak into the progress being made. The photo is of the Magnolia Women’s Center lobby. More updates to come!
SWGA Oil Donates $100K to MHM through GA HEART Program
We want to say THANK YOU to SWGA Oil, Inc. for donating $100K to MHM through the GA Heart Tax Credit Program. Glennie Bench had this to say about the program and our hospital: “Although the public knows us as SunStop, Inland, and Total Petroleum, our parent company, Southwest Georgia Oil Company, Inc. is proud to support Memorial Hospital and Manor. Georgia Heart donations – which allow our state income tax dollars to stay in Decatur County – is a no-brainer!
Rural hospitals all over the country have almost insurmountable challenges and we are thrilled that our tax dollars can be used to overcome those challenges right here in our hometown at Memorial Hospital and Manor.
Having donated to Memorial Hospital for many years, we’ve seen how the hospital management and staff have used these donations to upgrade equipment, strengthen quality of care, expand services, and serve our community. I can’t think of a better use of our tax dollars. I hope anyone who pays Georgia income taxes will consider making a Georgia Heart donation earmarked for Memorial Hospital!”
New Director of IT
We would like to welcome Norman Ludecke as MHM’s new Director of IT!! Norman has been in the IT field for over 32 years, his last 27 years being with KWB Pathology Associates. He has spent most of his life in the SWGA Region and enjoys spending time with his wife, three sons, and grandchildren. We are excited to have you as part of our team and look forward to working with you!!
Cooper’s Plumbing and Air Participates in GA Heart
We want to say THANK YOU to Cooper’s Plumbing & Air for being a great community partner and choosing to allocate their state tax dollars to our local hospital again this year. These tax dollars are kept here and used to buy necessary equipment for the hospital and to make upgrades in the patient areas. We couldn’t do it without without partners like you! If you or your business would like to keep your tax dollars working locally in our economy through the hospital, please contact Jamie Sinko at [email protected] or visit georgiaheart.org to see how to sign up.
Dr. Craig Lenz – OBGYN- Joins Magnolia Women’s Center
We would like to officially welcome Dr. Craig Lenz to Magnolia Women’s Center! We are excited to have you as part of the Memorial Hospital and Manor Family, and look forward to serving our community together!! Magnolia Women’s Center is proud to serve our entire region with the best in obstetrics and gynecological care and Dr. Lenz is an excellent addition to our already “best in the business” staff!!
New Infection Prevention /Employee Health Coordinator
We would like to welcome Debra Owings, Infection Prevention /Employee Health Coordinator, to our MHM Team! Debra has over 30 years of experience in the Nursing field and received her DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) in December 2022. She is excited to join our team and is looking forward to being involved in the community. Some of her hobbies are reading, gardening, making candy, and antiquing. Please introduce yourself when you see her around!
Partnership with TeleSpecialists for Stroke Diagnosis and Care
We here at Memorial Hospital are your closest stroke center, and our partner TeleSpecialists make it possible to have a neurologist waiting for you when you arrive. TeleSpecialists are board certified Neurologists and the company serves over 300 hospitals across 30 states via tele-health. They have an average time of three minutes to come on screen and an average time of 36 minutes from patient arrival to have proper medication given to the patients that need it. They are able to view the radiology images in real time along with medical records to reach the diagnosis. We are very proud to be able to partner with them to serve our community in times of crisis.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Decatur County and MHM Celebrate One Year of Free Books
More than 400 children in Decatur County are receiving free books in the mail each month thanks to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Decatur County.
In April 2022, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Decatur County in partnership with Memorial Hospital and Manor and Decatur County Family Connection launched a free book gifting program. Since the launch more than 200 babies delivered at Memorial received their first book and registered for the program before they left the hospital. Each of these babies receive a free book in the mail each month until that child turns 5. The free books are offered to all children under five in Decatur County, regardless of family income.
The first Decatur County baby registered for DPIL at Memorial Hospital, Blakely Palmer just celebrated her first birthday. When Blakely was born, her parents, Justin and Samantha Palmer, signed up Blakely and her older brother Knox for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Samantha says, “It is very exciting every month to receive a book for each of my kids. All of the books we have received have been age appropriate and some even go with the season or holiday that is approaching. Being a teacher, literacy is important to me and it makes me happy to see my kids excited about getting new books. We have loved every book given and I can’t wait to see all of the others that are mailed.” Blakely and Knox each received 12 books this year from DPIL.
Hospital staff are also excited about the program. Labor Delivery Nurse Manager Judy Godwin says, “I love this idea because I love to read, and I have grandchildren who love to read. The children benefit whether they are being read to or reading it themselves.” Memorial Labor/Delivery nurses make sure that each family knows about the program, helps to get the baby registered, and gives the family the baby’s first book, The Little Engine that Could.
While newborns and their siblings are registered at MHM, the program is open to all Decatur County children up to age five. All children are eligible to register with DPIL and receive books until their fifth birthday by visiting https://link.zixcentral.com/u/19871742/uIftJcDt7RGiHnBOg-oQLQ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fimaginationlibrary.com%2Fcheck-availability%2F
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has gifted over 200 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. This is achieved through funding shared by The Dollywood Foundation and Local Program Partners. The Imagination Library mails more than 2 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to enrolled children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.
The program has been widely researched and results demonstrate its positive impact on early childhood development and literacy skills. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visit imaginationlibrary.com.
Bank OZK $100,000 GA Heart Contribution
We are pleased to announce Bank OZK has given a $100,000 contribution to Memorial Hospital and Manor through the Georgia HEART Tax Credit Program. This brings the total donated since 2018 by Bank OZK to our hospital to $430,000.
“Bank OZK is committed to the communities it serves and the financial health of our neighbors in Bainbridge,” said Tori Haack, President of Commercial Banking for East Georgia. “A strong community is also dependent on convenient access to quality healthcare services, and Bank OZK is proud to support Memorial Hospital and Manor with a contribution for the sixth consecutive year.”
“Bank OZK has gone above and beyond again this year blessing us through the Georgia Heart Tax Credit Program. They have been long time partners with our hospital and their continued support shows how important they believe having access to a full service hospital is to our rural community. Because of the generous donations through this program, we will be able to make needed equipment purchases and building upgrades.” Jamie Sinko, Director of Development.