U.S. Healthcare Systems for Small Populations- Savannah Georgia

U.S. Healthcare Systems for Small Populations- Savannah Georgia

Demographics

Savannah is a small city located in Chatham County, Georgia, and also Chatham County’s seat (World Population Review, 2021). The estimated population of the city is 401,153 (World Population Review, 2021). The city is ranked the fifth biggest city in Georgia, following Atlanta, Columbus, Augusta, and Macon County, and the 193rd biggest city in the U.S. The most recent ACS shows the racial composition of Savannah as African American- 53.93%, white-38.88%, two or more races-2.78%, Asian-2.61%, Native Hawaiian-0.10%, Native American-0.29%, and other race-1.42% (World Population Review, 2021). Savannah’s median age is 32.6 years, with 33.6 years being females and 31.8 years being males. Its sex ratio of males 69,220 and females 76,183, which is 47.61% to 52.39%, respectively (World Population Review, 2021). Savannah is Georgia’s oldest city, established in 1733 (World Population Review, 2021).

Map of Savannah, Georgia

Income and Employment

According to World Population Review (2021), the estimated average household income in the city is $63,984, and the poverty rate is 21.86%. The median rental cost in the current years is $1,019 per month, and the median value for a house is $156,500. In May 2020, workers in Savannah had a mean hourly wage of $22.84, which is 16% below the nationwide mean of $27.07 (The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). Savannah area employment is highly concentrated in 5 out of 22 occupational groups, including food preparations and serving, repair and maintenance, installation, material moving, and transportation.

Types and Locations of Medical Services in Savannah

Memorial Health University Medical Centre is the biggest healthcare provider in Savannah as well as in the whole of Georgia (Savannah Economic Development Authority, 2021). The healthcare provider is focused on training and education, producing over 60 physicians every year.

Other major medical centers in Savannah are St. Joseph’s Hospital, located on Mercy Blvd Savannah, and Candler Hospital, located along Reynolds Street Savannah. These two medical centers are the only healthcare providers in Savannah to achieve MAGNET status and network accreditation status for nursing excellence (Savannah Economic Development Authority, 2021). In Savannah, social assistance and healthcare ranks as the third-highest sector of employment and keeps showing consistent growth. Another hospital in Savannah is Landmark Hospital of Savannah, located at 68th Street Savannah.

There are other medical centers that serve the population of Savannah, which are only located near it. These include Hilton Head Regional Medical Centre, located on Hospital Centre Blvd; Coastal Carolina Hospital, located in Hardeeville; Beaufort Memorial Hospital, located in Beaufort; and Effingham Health System in Springfield, among others (Healthgrades, 2021).

Analysis of the Existing Healthcare System: Memorial University Medical Center

Memorial University Medical Centre is the biggest healthcare provider in Savannah and in the entire southeast of Georgia. The health system serves 35 counties in Southern South Carolina and southeast Georgia with the dedication of 675 physicians and 4775 team members (Savannah Economic Development Authority, 2021). It is located at Waters Avenue 4700, Savannah, in Chatham County. The hospital is a 612-bed acute care trauma center. Memorial houses a children’s hospital, a level-one trauma center, a cancer research lab, and a level-three neonatal intensive care nursery (Savannah Economic Development Authority, 2021). It is also a regional referral center for trauma, neonatology, high-risk obstetrics, pediatrics, cancer care, and cardiac care (Office of the Attorney General, 2017). This means that the healthcare system in Savannah is facilitated with a medical center, a 630-bed academic hospital, specialty and primary care physician practices, industry and business services, and a medical education program. The medical education program trains the residents of Savannah in family medicine, gynecology, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, internal medicine, and diagnostic radiology (Savannah Area Chamber, 2021).

Proposal

Concierge medicine can work effectively in Memorial University Medical Centre’s healthcare system. This is a healthcare delivery model where a medical doctor, more often than not a family medicine physician or internal medicine physician, gives healthcare services to their patients, who will be required to pay monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually (Calhoun, 2009). According to Calhoun, many healthcare providers have expressed their grievances about the current healthcare systems in the U.S. Calhoun’s study shows that physicians spend more time doing non-clinical work, seeing fewer patients than they should, and working fewer hours overall. Factors such as spending more time carrying out administrative work and doing less clinical work can be reduced by the use of the concierge medicine model in Memorial University Medical Centre. The role of concierge medicine is to manage smaller numbers of patients under the patient roster physician (Calhoun, 2009). Concierge medicine helps physicians manage their time well, knowing that they will attend to specific patients. This, therefore, helps them to plan their general work schedule from their personal perspective. Besides, it has been reported that using concierge medicine, a physician is likely to spend more time with a patient in the exam room, about 30 to 60 minutes, unlike the traditional care model where a physician spends about 18 minutes per patient (Calhoun, 2009). This will help in the effective examination, diagnosis, and treatment.

In summary, it has been reported that concierge medicine benefits patients in terms of effectiveness in treatment and reduced wait lines since physicians are able to plan their schedules properly, leading to patient satisfaction. That said, the concierge medicine model in Memorial University Medical Centre is likely to help the residents of Savannah save the amount they pay in healthcare alongside insurance because they have direct access to their physicians, which reduces bureaucracy challenges.

References

Calhoun, S. (2015). Concierge medicine: Incorporating components into your healthcare system (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh).

Healthgrades (2021). 11 Hospitals near Savannah, GA. https://www.healthgrades.com/hospital-directory/ga-georgia/savannah

Healthgrades (2021). Memorial Health University Medical Center. https://www.healthgrades.com/hospital-directory/georgia-ga/memorial-health-university-medical-center-hgst8d336f56110036

Office of the Attorney General State of Georgia (2017). In the Matter of the Acquisition of Memorial University Medical Centre by Savannah Health Services, LLC. file:///C:/Users/mnm/AppData/Local/Temp/Report%20of%20Findings_Memorial%20University%20Medical%20Center.pdf

Savannah Area Chamber (2021). Healthcare. https://www.savannahchamber.com/economic-development/healthcare/

Savannah Economic Development Authority (2021). Savannah Living Healthcare. https://seda.org/do-business-here/savannah-living/healthcare/

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021). Occupational Employment and Wages in Savannah- May 2020. https://www.bls.gov/regions/southeast/news-release/occupationalemploymentandwages_savannah.htm

World Population Review (2021). Savannah, Georgia. https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/savannah-ga-population

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Your project throughout this course will:

Analyze an existing healthcare system and evaluate how that system can be improved to serve the community better
Conceive a new or improved health care service, then design a facility to provide that service
Develop the structure, functions, and processes of the facility

Submit an SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation) proposal

Your proposal should be fiscally, socially, ethically, and politically responsible. The goal is to have a net positive benefit to the healthcare system and the community it serves.

To begin, select an existing health care system in a small U.S. city, preferably in the state where you live. The city should have a population of less than 200,000.

Create a 700- to 1,050–word profile of the city you selected, along with details like: