SGMC Announces Changes at Greenleaf

The Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County, D/B/A South Georgia Medical Center announces that it has entered into a management agreement and letter of intent to sell Greenleaf Center to ACADIA Healthcare of Franklin, Tennessee.Greenleaf is a 48-bed inpatient facility, located at 2209 Pineview Drive in Valdosta, which offers mental health and substance abuse treatment for adolescents and adults. Located adjacent to the main hospital, the Greenleaf Outpatient Counseling Center provides individual and group counseling, family therapy, teen programs and DUI intervention. As the terms of the letter of intent dictate, effective immediately, ACADIA will place an interim administrator at Greenleaf to manage the day to day operations of the facility during the due diligence period. The terms of the sale are undisclosed at this time. SGMC CEO Randy Sauls says the sale demonstrates the Hospital Authority’s commitment to provide leading healthcare services for the behavioral health needs of our population. “We are confident that ACADIA will continue to provide expert programs and services for psychiatric patients in our region,” he adds.Chief Medical Officer Kimberly Megow, MD, says that ACADIA has a great reputation for behavioral health care and they will bring additional expertise to benefit this patient population.  “Our intent is to make sure the patients we serve continue to receive high quality behavioral health care through this transition and beyond,” Dr. Megow explains. “We anticipate no lapse in services and we are working to achieve a seamless transition. SGMC will continue covering the facility with physicians until the sale is complete.”According to ACADIA Healthcare Co-President Trey Carter, ACADIA operates a network of behavioral health facilities across the country with two hospitals in the metro Atlanta area.  “We were looking for opportunities to have a presence in the southern portion of the state and that is why we were interested in purchasing Greenleaf.” ACADIA operates a network of 32 behavioral health facilities with approximately 2,100 licensed beds in 19 states. Mr. Carter states that business will continue as usual for the present time. He anticipates that more jobs, such as in the areas of human resources and billing, will be created as Greenleaf transitions to a fully functioning independent ACADIA hospital.  He does not anticipate any changes in staffing during the due diligence period.  He explains that ACADIA will be evaluating staff and services to include things Greenleaf doesn’t currently provide.“Our vision is to be the behavioral health center of excellence for citizens of South Georgia,” Carter says. ACADIA provides premier psychiatric and chemical dependency services to its patients in a variety of settings, including inpatient psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers and outpatient clinics and therapeutic school based programs.For more information, go to www.ACADIAhealthcare.com.