$28 million Piedmont Columbus Regional Children’s Hospital set to open amid fanfare

COLUMBUS, Ga. ( WRBL ) — This afternoon the Piedmont Columbus Regional community held a celebration Wednesday to mark a milestone in healthcare in this region.

The ribbon was cut on the city’s first standalone children’s hospital. The Bill and Olivia Amos Children’s Hospital is a 26-room, 30-bed facility in the old Doctors Hospital on the Midtown campus.

For the better part of 10 years, the Doctors Hospital has sat most vacant on the Piedmont Columbus Regional campus.

The Bill and Olivia Amos Children’s Hospital puts an exclamation point where there had long been a question mark on the Piedmont Columbus Regional Midtown campus.

“Doctors Hospital was closed down in 2014, 2015,” Piedmont Columbus Regional CEO Scott Hill said. “There was a lot of questions. What are you going to do with Doctors Hospital?  What are you going to do with Doctors Hospital?  I probably got that question asked  500 to 1,000 times.  I’m super proud to say that we’re breathing new life into what has been known as the old Doctors Hospital. And  I’m glad I won’t have to answer that question again.”

It’s a 28-million dollar answer that was funded in large part by private donors here in Columbus. The lead gift was given by local benefactors Bettye and Cecil Cheves. It is named for her parents, part of the three-brother team that started Aflac in the 1950s.

Local donors gave over $23 million, which covered more than 80 percent of the cost.

It was the lead gift from the Cheves that drove the fund-raising efforts.

“When I look at what you all have led  and how you’ve led it, we are eternally grateful  and we will always be,” Hill told Bettye and Cecil last weel. “And  the legacy that we have  in  this hospital  that you all  have led the way on  is something that is to be cherished and treasured in this community for a long time.”

The Cheves count their blessings that they were able to be a part of the efforts and acknowledge it was a community-wide endeavor.

“We have written several thank you notes, but I want to continue reaching out to each  person whose name is on that board and personally thank them again,” Cecil said. “It is a team effort.  We might be getting some attention right here, but goodness gracious, it would not be done  if it had not been for dozens and dozens of other  men and women and families that stepped up.

One of the physicians who will work in the hospital was grateful for the upgraded facility that will allow the expansion of pediatric care in Columbus and the Chattahoochee Valley.

“It tells us that they all agree that it’s really important to take the best care of our pediatric patients,” said Dr. Rebecca Reamy, chief of Pediatrics, Piedmont Columbus Regional . “And it also tells us how generous this community is.”

Warren Steele is the vice chairman of the Piedmont Healthcare Board of Directors. He said the ability to fund a majority of the project locally stands out in the 14-hospital Piedmont system.

“To be able to say we can fund a project that is $25 million, $30 million project, mostly out of philanthropy,  says a lot  to the Piedmont community,” Steele said. “There’s a lot of respect for what’s happening down here in Columbus.”

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