VALDOSTA — Improvements in South Georgia Medical Center’s emergency room led the Hospital Authority of Valdosta-Lowndes County to bestow new titles on the managing physicians.

Dr. Doug Moss and Dr. Jonathan Parrott were named co-directors of the Emergency Medical Department at the board’s meeting Wednesday, where the members took action on the recommendation of George Hardy, SGMC’s assistant administrator, ancillary services.

In a letter addressed to SGMC CEO James McGahee, Hardy states, “Both Dr. Moss and Dr. Parrott have made significant changes in interaction with physicians and staff for the department to function more efficiently in caring for the patients in our community.”

Also, according to the letter from Hardy, several of the criteria used by the administration to determine efficiency and productivity have shown improvement. “One of the most important is the LBBS (Left Before Being Seen); a year ago it was 8 to 10 percent, now it is less than 1 percent.”

In addition, Hardy states, “There has been a noticeable improvement in the morale of our staff because of the engagement of the Emergency Department physicians.” Board attorney Walter H. New said the proposal was discussed in an executive session, but the Authority had to vote publicly on the issue, which passed unanimously.

Members of the Authority were also introduced to Alex Patterson, the new director of Greenleaf. McGahee stated that Patterson will be evaluating the programs and services at the center to determine if the community’s needs are being met, if additional psychiatrists and therapists are needed, and if the facilities need to be upgraded.

Phillip Cook, the new administrator at Clinch County Memorial Hospital, attended the meeting, and McGahee said that SGMC is assisting in locating a primary care physician for the facility to replace a physician relocating to another state.

In other business, the Authority members were provided updates on current construction projects. McGahee stated that the Medical Office Building should be complete in September, and each unit will be built out according to the specifications of the occupant.

The Ambulatory /Surgery Center should be completed in August. As the two buildings will add more traffic onto the hospital campus, and SGMC has been notified by Pinnacle Prime that it is planning to move forward with its project on the property across Patterson St. currently being used as overflow employee parking, McGahee said SGMC needs to move forward on its plans for a parking deck sooner than anticipated.