DUBLIN, Ga. — Fairview Park Hospital is expanding its surgical services as part of a $21 million project to keep up with the growing surgical need in Central Georgia.
Ross Kemp is the hospital's chief operating officer and he said they thought it was time to plan an expansion a couple of years ago. The expansion includes bringing new operating rooms — or ORs— which Kemp says will help them serve the community better.
"We've added two additional OR's, so by the end of the year we're gonna have nine ORs and be able to take care of that population," Kemp said.
The expanded surgical services include adding pediatric and bariatric services. But they've also had to keep up with more surgeries as they've worked to complete the expansion.
"Going into next year, we're also gonna be expanding three additional ORs up to 600 square feet," Kemp said.
Dr. Donald Maynard is a general and bariatric surgeon at the hospital who said the growth was definitely needed for the operating rooms.
"Some cases, we have multiple people in here. So if we have four of five or six surgeons helping out in different stages of it, it's just much easier to get people in and out," Maynard said.
He said having more space in the operating room also helps the surgery move along faster, and it helps them keep instruments more sterile.
But a major reason Maynard was excited about the growth is because the additional space will make room for the new medical equipment the hospital's been using.
"We've kind of brought in all the state-of-the-art equipment to allow us to deliver the best care to patients," Maynard said.
He said one of the reasons he decided to take a job at Fairview Park Hospital was their use of the surgical robot, which took up a lot of room in the old operating rooms. But despite those issues, it brings a lot of benefits for patients.
"It decreases blood loss, it decreases complications, it decreases injuries," Maynard said.
And it's not just the surgical robots they've added.
"We've needed to have larger OR's to bring in more equipment, whether it's robotic or additional anesthesia machines to cover surgeries," Kemp said.
At the end of the day, Kemp says it is all about giving patients big-city hospital care, in their small town of Dublin.
"We've worked really hard to ensure that Dublin and Laurens County has the services they need right here at home," Kemp said.
Kemp said Fairview Park Hospital serves as the primary hospital for 11 counties in the surrounding area.