The History of Smith Hospital

The idea for "Smith Hospital" was born in 1942. A father and son team of physicians, Drs. E.J. and Raymond Smith, 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 two houses on Main Street in Hahira and connected them to start the first hospital in town. 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 state, but as a new facility. Robert Bauer was moved from Tennessee as Special Projects Manager. Sam and Robert began a two-year campaign to acquire a Certificate of Need to build a new facility. Groundbreaking took place in August of 2001 and SMITH Northview Hospital opened its doors on 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 at 4280 North Valdosta 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 to accommodate the increase in patients, doctors, and surgeries. SMITH Northview Hospital currently employs 396 people with 130 physicians having privileges.

On September 1, 2011, South Georgia Medical Center, a 335-bed, not-for-profit hospital located in Valdosta, purchased the assets of SMITH Northview from Ameris Healthcare. SMITH Northview now operates as a campus of South Georgia Medical Center providing a wide selection of healthcare services. At present, the hospital has 45 inpatient beds which include intensive care, intermediate care, regular rooms, and labor-delivery-recovery and post-partum rooms. The outpatient surgery unit also has 11 outpatient beds for same-day surgeries.

Recent additions to the services available at SMITH Northview include a successful Youth Pediatric After-Hours Clinic (YPAC) and a new Spine Care Center. The latest addition is rewarding affiliation with the J.M S. Burn Center of Augusta, Georgia, and Dr. Fred Mullins, whose team flies into Valdosta every Wednesday to care for burn victims who come from all over the Southeast.

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