The History of Smith Hospital
The idea for “Smith Hospital” was born in 1942. Doctors E.J. and Raymond Smith, a father and son team, served Hahira and the surrounding community from their small office in Hahira. While delivering a baby, on a rainy night in a rural area of the county in a small home with poor lighting, Dr. Raymond Smith said “There has to be something better than this.”
The father and son bought 2 houses on Main Street and connected them to start the first hospital in Hahira, Georgia. As the need grew, so did the hospital until it sprawled over most of the block. At one time part of the hospital became a nursing home and then converted back to a hospital. The part that was a nursing home became doctors offices for a changing series of doctors. The middle part of the hospital became a contained, locked unit for a Drug and Alcohol Detoxification Unit.
In 1986, Smith Hospital was sold to Dr. Russell Acree and family. Over the next 14 years, the hospital was patched and “fixed up”, until the Acree family sold the hospital to a community health group from Tennessee. This organization only kept the hospital for a few months, before it converted back to the Acree family. They continued to look for a buyer.
Sam Lewis, owner of Ameris Healthcare Systems, came to look at the hospital and saw “potential”, not in its current rundown building, but as a new facility. Robert Bauer was moved from Tennessee as Special Projects Manager. Then began a two-year campaign by Robert and Sam to acquire a Certificate of Need to build a new facility. Ground breaking took place in August of 2001 and SMITH Northview Hospital opened its doors June 24, 2002. Actually, business began a little earlier when someone fell and broke a hip at the Open House on Sunday, June 23rd. All needed parties were present, including an Orthopedic Surgeon and nursing staff, so the first admission took place a few hours earlier than intended.
Smith Hospital in Hahira had 71 beds, 1 Operating Room, 1 Delivery Room, and approximately 6 full time physicians. SMITH Northview Hospital opened 7 miles down the road with 29 beds (including 2 Labor Delivery Recovery Rooms), 8 outpatient surgical rooms, 2 Operating Rooms, and approximately 100 physicians. The number of employees doubled with the move from approximately 140 to over 300 in order to accommodate the increase in patients, doctors, and surgeries.
At present we have 6 Operating Rooms. Surgeries have increased from 40 per month (in Hahira) to more than 300 (2008 average) in the new facility. With the increase in OB/GYN Physicians, deliveries have increased from approximately 50 per year (in Hahira) to 622 in 2007. As of June 2008, SMITH Northview Hospital currently employs 396 people with 107 physicians having privileges.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to improve the health of those we serve through a caring and competent staff, while maintaining the continued viability of the facility.Our Vision
We are dedicated to providing optimal quality healthcare to those we serve.