SGMC investing $150 million in main campus; see what's being built and how it'll help Valdosta

Nearly 20 percent of women in our area don't have access to proper care. SGMC Health is helping to change that.

"I'm a mom, a mom of three. I've delivered all of them here"

I'm Malia Thomas, your neighborhood reporter in Valdosta. I'm speaking with neighborhoods about the need in our community.

Dr. Elizabeth Flail has lived here nearly all her life. "My dad was an ER physician here and that's what brought us here to Valdosta." Watching him tend to patients, she followed in her father's footstep.

Even when given an opportunity to practice medicine in Atlanta, our community's support for her family drew her back here.

"My son was diagnosed with cancer at two, and it was in that moment when the Valdosta community reached out to me and loved me and loved my family, that I realized life is short. I want to come back and practice a career in my hometown."

And now, she gets to be a part of SGMC's newest project: bringing a women and children's tower, as well as trauma center, to their Valdosta campus.

"When they have this facility, what they can impact for this community and their birthing experience is going to be amazing. And we're growing and we need the space and we need that technology to grow with us."

SGMC is putting $150 million, their largest investment yet, into the two centers.

The Women's building will help with prenatal and postpartum, while the Trauma Center will help address the hospital's growing caseload, as they now see over 100,000 patients annually.

Christie Moore, our Chamber's president, tells me that this will help with our city's ultimate goal: taking care of one another. "Really healthcare there is such a pivotal part of so many things in the community but your quality of life overall...we need to know that we'll be able to take care if there is a traumatic accident."

Which Dr. Flail tells me will keep her here forever. "You saw with COVID... just the outreach of support they gave us."