The Tri-County Journal
& Chattahoochee Chronicle
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Buena Vista, GA 31803
229-649-6397
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Open House in Cusseta
Community Calendars |
By RICHARD HARRIS
(From the October 11, 2006 issue)
Chattahoochee Health Care opened its doors for a special Open House last Saturday, Oct. 7, to meet local residents and let them tour the spacious facility, which includes six exam rooms and even a room that will be used as a pharmacy in the near future. A significant number of visitors stopped by, which pleased Dr. Edward Hamilton, who is leading the staff at the center.
Around noon he came to understand one of the reasons local residents were so excited, as someone said he was the first doctor to ever have an office in Cusseta – or at the very least the first one in a very long time.
“It’s exciting to be here to help get this started from the ground up,” said Dr. Hamilton. “We’re
Dr. Hamilton earned a bachelor of science degree in nuclear medicine technology from the Medical College of Georgia, before graduating from medical school at Nova Southeastern University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.
After a three-year residency in family practice with Columbus Regional, he joined Early Memorial Hospital in Blakely, which transitioned into Primary Health Care of Southwest Georgia while he was with there.
Dr. Hamilton is originally from nearby Columbus, so his new position in Columbus gave him an opportunity to return to his hometown area.
The Cusseta center is part of Southwest Georgia Health Care, Inc., which also has centers in Richland, Plains and Georgetown.
“We anticipate a lot of growth here,” said Dr. Gehlot. “Right now we
Southwest Georgia Health Care has also contracted directly with large pharmaceutical companies in a drug assistance program that will also allow them to offer prescription medications at a fraction of their normal cost (from $5 to $20).
Dr. Gehlot also noted that they have a waiver so that they will not be in violation of law if they don’t check patients’ status to determine if they are illegal aliens. He added that all information collected about salaries becomes part of the patient’s medical record, so
Local Commissioner Larry Dillard, who along with fellow Chattahoochee County resident Rev. James Morton and Commission Manager Elvin Hardy, serves on the Southwest Georgia Health Care Board, said the new center is a “Godsend.”
“Everyone is excited that we finally have a doctor in the community,” he said.
Dillard noted that the Cusseta location has six exam rooms, a lab, meeting room, waiting room, pharmacy and offices. He also said the Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee County hopes to be able to help further improve health care and related services in the future.
“This is the first step in broad improvements in health care for the area,” said Dillard. “We are working on the possibility of having a local ambulance/EMS service.”
Chattahoochee Health Care’s first day of business was Monday, Oct. 9.