TREATMENT FACILITY CLOSING

HAHIRA -- On Dec. 23, when the Smith Hospital residential treatment
facility closes, people seeking help for substance abuse problems will have
to leave the area to find long-term care.

The 29-bed Smith facility, housed in the former Smith Hospital on Hahira's
Main Street, opened in July 2002 when the hospital moved to its new home on
North Valdosta Road and became Smith Northview. It was operated under a
joint agreement between Smith Northview and Behavioral Health Services of
South Georgia, and patients could stay up to 100 days for extensive
counseling and treatment of drug and alcohol addiction.

The facility is closing, according to Robert Bauer, chief executive officer
of Smith Northview, because the building, more than 60 years old, failed to
meet fire codes for a residential facility.

"When we housed the acute care detox unit there, it met all the fire codes.
But there are a different set of codes for a residential facility as you
don't have the high staff per patient ratio. The lowest estimate we
received was $250,000 to make it compliant with residential codes," said Bauer.

In addition, Smith Northview is undergoing its first JCAHO, or Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, survey and the
residential facility would have been considered under the survey.

"We couldn't pass the survey because of the physical structure. It's too
old. That's why we couldn't get the accreditation while our hospital was in
that building," he said.

Bauer said Dave McCracken, executive director of BHS, informed him earlier
this year that the state was looking into all jointly-operated ventures for
potential closure and the facility was under review to be closed by March
of 2004 anyway. "We just had to go ahead and make the decision for them a
few months earlier than had been planned," he said.

Bauer said the hospital has subsidized the facility since it opened,
contributing more than $700,000 per year to operate it, primarily using
funds the state provides Smith for the care of indigent patients. He said
95 percent of those using the drug and alcohol treatment facility were
uninsured and had no way to pay for the treatment.

"This was our biggest gift of time, money and effort to the community. This
was a luxury--a community service--and there is more than enough need for
it. It's been full since it opened," he said.

According to Bauer, Smith spends 15 percent of its entire operating budget
on indigent care patients.

The hospital will continue to have a joint agreement with BHS to treat
acute detox patients who are admitted to the hospital needing immediate
medical treatment for their addiction. The patients only stay for four or
five days until they are medically stable and then either must return home
or seek more long-term treatment.

McCracken said the closure "will have a huge impact on us" and the patients
will have nowhere locally to go. "We'll be at a disadvantage for what we'll
be able to offer to them."

He stated that the state director of the MHDDSA program (mental health,
development disability and substance abuse) has directed each community
service board to have a crisis stabilization unit in the community that
they operate on their own, not in a joint setting. However, although the
state is mandating the change, no additional funds are being provided to
pay for it.

"We estimate it's going to take $1.5 to 2 million to start a 15-or-16 bed
program on our own," said McCracken.

He said the agency has been able to place each individual under care at
Smith in another program, although most will be in outpatient programs
rather than residential.

Assistant Director Sue Gupton said the nearest residential programs are in
Tifton, Argyle, Thomasville and Waycross, but there are usually waiting
times to get in.

For now, McCracken said he is working with the local legislative delegation
concerning the funding the agency needs to meet its new state directives.

"This was a safety net for these patients, especially indigent care. We
could keep the individual within the community and help them reach their
full potential at home," he said.

The staff at the Smith facility have all been placed in other positions.

Once the facility closes in a few weeks, the building which has played such
an active role in Hahira's history and economy will be empty for the first
time since 1943 when Dr. Raymond Smith founded it in the community.

Bauer said Smith Northview is having preliminary discussions with the City
of Hahira to possibly donate the building to the city, which could then
lease it to a private enterprise for a personal care home or other use.