GA Based Regency Hospital Company to Expand to Albany.

ALBANY, Ga. -- Regency Hospital Company, a Georgia-based hospital company announced today its plans to expand into the Albany area. The new hospital is planning to have 33 beds, and will serve the immediate Albany area as well as 13 other surrounding counties. Regency is a specialized hospital that provides intensive critical care for patients with medically complex disease or complications.

Regency plans to build a 33-bed Hospital-within-Hospital (HIH) located within Palmyra Medical Centers, 2000 Palmyra Road in Albany. Regency Hospital is a Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) hospital designed to meet the needs of critically ill patients who require an extended time in an intensive care type setting. The hospital is licensed as an acute care hospital thus allowing it to serve the needs of patients that need an acute care environment for a period of about 25 days. Regency officials say the HIH model is a favorable option for the Albany healthcare community as it allows this specialized hospital setting for patients while remaining sensitive to healthcare space and resources. The cost of doing a HIH LTAC hospital is significantly less than building a freestanding hospital. "Each area warrants different considerations and this is the right model for this area," stated Leslie Boney, VP Development for Regency Hospital Company. Regency will have a separate medical staff, nursing staff, governing board and administration while purchasing various services such as housekeeping, nutrition and x-ray services from Palmyra Medical Centers.

The hospital will not only take care of the patients at Palmyra Medical Centers, but it will service other area hospitals and will expand to the entire southwest part of Georgia. "We are pleased Regency plans to bring this level of care to Albany and surrounding communities. They have an outstanding reputation for taking care of this type of very specialized acute care patient," stated Bud Wethington CEO, Palmyra Medical Centers. "We believe this hospital will bring a much needed service. The hospital-within-hospital offers major advantages to patients and their families since critical services will already be available on site." Wethington added utilization of services which already exist provides excellent continuum of care, and utilization of available space eliminates the tremendous expense associated with building a free-standing facility.

"There is a definite need for this level of care. A long term acute care hospital such as this will provide a great healthcare setting for the patients and also will provide a valuable service to a patient's family. They will no longer need to travel to Atlanta, Macon or Columbus for these specialized hospital services. Regency will allow them to be able to stay right here in Albany," stated Dr. Jyotir Metha, a board certified pulmonologist. Mehta, who practices at both Palmyra Medical Centers and Phoebe Putney Memorial, says he is happy with Regency coming to Albany. "It is the right answer for our patients and for our community," he continued.

Regency also has LTAC hospitals in Macon and Atlanta where both hospitals maintain a higher than 95% occupancy. "We are honored to be coming into the Albany area as we have seen patients come to both our other locations for some time. It will be a great benefit to allow these patients and their families to stay closer to home and still get the specialized care they need to get well," stated Rod Laughlin, President and CEO, Regency Hospital Company.

Regency Hospital Company has 19 hospitals nationwide, and has been recognized for its mission of giving people their lives back by providing outstanding clinical care to medically complex patients. "Our goal is to be the Mayo Clinic of LTAC hospitals," stated Laughlin. "We are in this line of work because there are patients that need a very specialized treatment program that only an LTAC hospital can provide. It is our mission to do it better than anyone else does," he continued.

Regency officials name many reasons for coming to Albany; among them are the local patient need and the opportunity to maximize underutilized beds already in the community. By adding LTAC beds, more patients can be accommodated in the full continuum of care in the city of Albany and surrounding areas. A typical LTAC hospital patient has multi-system failure and/or medically complex issues/disease. "The patient population that Regency treats is medically complex and complicated. We strive to put every resource available at the patient bedside to get them well and able to go home where they belong," stated Janet Rail, Chief Clinical Officer, at Regency Hospital Company.

As required by the state of Georgia, Regency has submitted an application for Certificate of Need (CON). The CON was deemed complete in early January 2007. A hearing for approval of the project will be heard on April 3, 2007. If approved, the project will create approximately 120 new jobs. Once construction is complete, Regency plans to admit patients by December 2007.