Memorial Hospital of Adel is now Cook Medical Center-A Campus of Tift Regional Medical Center
On July 1, Memorial Hospital of Adel officially became Cook Medical Center-A Campus of Tift Regional Medical Center (TRMC) and Memorial Convalescent Center was renamed Cook Senior Living Center. The Hospital Authority of Tift County, Georgia, which owns and operates Tift Regional Medical Center (TRMC), entered into an agreement with SunLink Health Systems, Inc. to purchase Memorial Hospital of Adel (Memorial) and its affiliated nursing home and ancillary services. After an interim management period and due diligence phase, the transaction was finalized on July 1.
“With input from our board of trustees and medical staff physicians, this acquisition is part of an overall strategic development initiative,” said William T. Richardson, TRMC president/CEO. “Only 50 percent of our patients come from Tift County; the other 50 percent come from our surrounding communities, with Cook County playing a significant role. We look forward to capitalizing on the great care already provided by Memorial, now Cook Medical Center, and continuing the strong relationships with the local physicians and community.”
The acquisition of Memorial will provide economies of scale between the two hospitals, said Richardson. “By taking a system approach with TRMC and the new Cook Medical Center, we will be able to share resources and improve continuity and coordination of care,” he said. “Advancing this model for residents in South Central Georgia is at the heart of Tift Regional’s endeavor to improve community health. We are confident it will result in better communication between primary care providers and specialists, greater efficiency of time and services, and enhanced quality of care.”
With 250 employees, Cook Medical Center includes a 60-bed acute care hospital and a 95-bed nursing home, Cook Senior Living Center. Cook Medical Center also recently opened the Sylvia Barr Center, a new, 12-bed geriatric/psychiatric unit serving seniors. Headed by an attending psychiatrist, patients of the Sylvia Barr Center can be treated for any one of a number of acute or chronic emotional and mental conditions. The unit is named in honor Sylvia Bradham Barr, considered by many as the “first lady of Adel” for her tireless activism within the community. She passed away peacefully in 2007 after a struggle with cancer, but her legacy of civic duty continues.
