Youmans, who owned the Aiken Hospital and two independent physicians, Dr. Mercer, who owned the Gross-Mercer Hospital and Dr. Bedingfield, who owned the Conner-Bedingfield Hospital Dr. In the aftermath of the election, physician clinic owners declared they t ow would not use the proposed hospital. Of the eight Toombs County precincts, six voted in favor of the community hospital with two precincts, Lyons and Blue Ridge, voting against the proposal. The county electorate voted 2,219 in favor of a community- ni a a O Cv owned hospital, and only 993 voted against the proposal. ![]() To whether or not to have a community hospital on a countywide ballot.Īfter considerable politicking on both sides of the issue, the countywide ballot resulted in an overwhelming victory for those who wanted a community hospital. diwo ad e, ed as The news media indicated that these two opposing groups had come to an impasse, and so it was decided to place the issue Toombs County Committee for the Hospital. ![]() One group was The Toombs County Citizens Who Believe in Private Enterprise and the second was The issue became controversial and opposing citizens’ groups arose on each side of the issue. A number of physicians in Toombs County strongly objected to the idea of a community- owned y hospital, as they would have suffered serious financial burdens if they lost revenue for their individual clinics. public hospitals and discussing the obvious funding needed. Headlines of an August 4, 1960, article in The Lyons Progress, the legal organ of Toombs County at the time, indicated that community leaders were debating the pros and cons of private vs. The advancements in medical technology brought the need for expensive diagnostic and treatment equipment, something that the physician-owned hospitals had to consider from a financial perspective.Īs healthcare advanced, it became obvious that the community needed a facility for patients who were seriously injured, critically ill or needed extended stays in a hospital environment. Medicine and healthcare were advancing at a rapid pace during this period, and technology was constantly improving to provide a higher standard of care for patients. There were a number of other clinics that occasionally admitted patients for overnight and sometimes longer care, but these two were the most frequently used. The most notable clinic hospitals were the Conner-Bedingfield Clinic and The Billy y y r t s y Aiken Clinic in Lyons. There were many physicians who were not clinic owners and had to rely on the physicianowned clinics when they needed to admit a patient for more advanced care or extended stays. Hwy 280) and SE Main Street, and it was later demolished to make way for a number of motor companies, Threlkeld Motor Company, among the first. This hospital, or sanatorium as it was known back in those days, was located in the area of First Street (U.S. Thompson, whose first name has been lost somewhere in history. Currie, the name of the Minnie Lou Sanatorium became the Thompson Hospital, an institution owned for decades by Dr. Currie was living in Vidalia in 1922, and died in 1932. The Vidalia City directory confirms that Dr. This structure burned on August 25, 1938, and at that time was called the Vidalia Hospital. First Street in Vidalia, which was outside of the defined city limits at that time. Malcom Lafayette Currie, who named it for his wife, Minnie, and daughter, Lou, who died at a young age. In the early days prior to 1960, the county’s first hospital was the Minnie Lou Sanatorium, which was established in 1909 by Dr. Twenty-four-hour care was problematic, both financially and administratively, with advanced treatment impossible. These clinics were independently owned and operated by these local physicians. In 1960, there was no community hospital in Toombs County, but there were physicians, some of whom had as many as one to twenty-five patient rooms attached to their private clinics. No hospital exists but for the physicians who support it.
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