PART I

TIFTON — Annsley Mathis and Whitney Chung got into nursing for similar reasons.

For Mathis, it was simple: she liked taking care of people.

For Chung, it was watching her grandmother deal with Parkinson’s while living at a nursing home.

“I saw my grandmother deteriorate and people not care for her,” Chung said. “From a young age, I thought I’d never let that happen to somebody’s family member. That kind of pushed me to become a nurse.”

Mathis started at Tift Regional Medical Center in 2015, in the Intensive Care Unit, where she still works today.

One of about 700 nurses employed at TRMC, she is in charge of only one or two patients at a time.

The job can be a kind of balancing act, with Mathis monitoring medicine levels, vitals, organs that are in failure, medicines that could stress the kidneys.

One 12-hour shift can find her working with two patients.

Another 12-hour shift, she may stay at the bedside of one patient the whole time, switching out medicines, administering blood.

Chung has worked with surgery patients since she started in 2012.

“My patients are a lot less critical,” Chung said. “I can have five or six patients I’m taking care of that are relatively stable.”

Besides nurses such as Mathis and Chung, TRMC employs 93 physicians, 81 advanced practice providers, which includes physician assistants, nurse practitioners and certified registered nurse anesthetists, 636 other clinical personnel and 745 non-clinical personnel.

The Tift Regional Health System, under the direction of the Hospital Authority of Tift County, is Tift County’s largest employer. The next largest is the Tift County Board of Education, according to GeorgiaTrend.com.

The hospital, which has an economic impact to Tift County of $551 million a year, is publicly owned and operated through the Tift County Hospital Authority.

For some, thinking of a hospital as the largest business inside a city can seem strange, but across the SunLight Project’s coverage area, which includes Tifton, Valdosta, Milledgeville, Moultrie, Dalton and Thomasville, Ga., publicly controlled enterprises such as hospitals, schools, colleges and military bases are some of the top five largest employers in each city.

They not only provide essential public services such as education, health care and security, but are crucial in attracting other businesses to the community. When a new business is considering moving to a city, it looks for good hospitals and good schools.

In other words, public employers not only employ the most people, they incubate the creation of more jobs by providing essential public services.

For Mathis and Chung, at TRMC, their public service means working with patients and their families on a regular basis.

They have multiple roles to play: the role of navigator for families of patients, guiding them through what’s going on, communicating everything to them; the role of counselor for emotional and grieving families; the role of teacher, talking families through the care the patient will need after release.

They care for the families, in much the same way they care for the patient.

Some shifts are quiet, though it’s an understood rule they never say that out loud during the shift.

And then some shifts, they have to drop everything they’re doing and run.

Mathis said she still remembers her first code call.

“It was overwhelming, the first couple,” Mathis said. “When you hear a code call, your heart drops into your stomach. You take off running. There’s a lot of emotions, a lot of things you’ve never felt before.”

A code call or a patient going code refers to a patient who either can’t breathe or whose heart has stopped — or both.

It’s an all-hands-on-deck situation, with doctors, nurses and other personnel racing to tend to the patient.

In these life-or-death situations, someone has to keep an eye on the time, literally using a timer.

For example, there can be two medications that need to be administered, with a three-minute window between them.

If the second medication is given too soon or too late, it can be fatal.

And just like a medical emergency can be emotional for the family, it can be emotional for the medical team.

“Nobody sees that part,” Chung said. “They don’t see the emotional toll or the stress or what goes on.”

On top of the emotional stress, nurses such as Chung and Mathis have to be well educated and trained to keep up with the daily demands. Those demands are on the increase as the need for nurses is expected to increase as many in the field are reaching retirement age.

In less than a decade, the nursing force at Colquitt Regional Medical Center is expected to shrink. And it’s not just that loss, as additional physicians come into Moultrie the demand for nurses will increase.

The hospital, the county’s second-largest public employer, has reached full capacity and, this year, hired a couple-dozen or so new physicians.

A recent study indicates “66 percent of our nurses will be out of the workforce in eight years,” said Jim Matney, Colquitt Regional’s chief executive officer.

“In the next five years we’ll bring on 35 new doctors,” Matney said. “Each physician we recruit creates 12 to 14 new jobs.”

With a new Philadelphia College of Medicine campus scheduled to open in August 2019, a short distance from the hospital, more newly minted interns will be working in the area.

The idea is that some – or hopefully most – will stay in the region to set up a practice.

The students who do residencies in the region could work in Moultrie or Albany, Thomasville, Tifton, Valdosta and other communities.

The average wage for Colquitt Regional is $25 per hour, or about $50,000 per year, Matney said.

Of job providers among public employers, the hospital is only eclipsed by the Colquitt County School System, which has some 1,500 employees.

The third-largest Colquitt employer is the Southwest Georgia Community Action Council. Its 600 employees serve the down-on-their-luck and people who are less fortunate throughout the region. It operates Head Start centers throughout the area.

Rounding out the top five are the governments of Colquitt County with about 250 employees, and Moultrie with 200.

Being in second place is not so bad, Matney said.

He predicted a job bump at Colquitt County High School and Southern Regional Technical College to provide the science and practical education needed for students pursuing medical careers.

“I would imagine in our efforts we’ll see both of them adding jobs,” Matney said of the high school and hospital. “… The school system is going to need to grow as well.”

A strong education system can have a huge impact on a region, said John Crawford, vice president for Valdosta State University advancement.

VSU is the fourth largest employer in Valdosta with 2,311 employees. Beyond just the number of employees, the college recognizes the key role its professors and staff can provide to the community.

“One of the issues in our region is economic development,” Crawford said. “Well, we have a college of business with experts. Those experts can be used as a resource. The idea is that we can go into the community and research these challenges and find a set of solutions that we can present to the community to make the lives of South Georgians better.”

VSU can’t help but influence the city and community, as it exists as a small town inside the city.

Crawford grew up in a small town and said the VSU campus reminds him a lot of his hometown.

“We’ve got about 11,000 students, plus our 1,500 employees on campus. That’s larger than many of the towns in Georgia,” Crawford said. “We have our own police force. We have an economic impact through payroll but also through the money our students pay into the community.”

He said he hopes businesses realize how VSU positively affects them. Visits to offices throughout the community demonstrate the impact of VSU.

Many workers either went to VSU for their bachelor’s degrees or enrolled to further their education. VSU degrees hang on walls all across the city and county.

The college also raises the quality of life for those living in Valdosta, Crawford said. Organizations such as the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, Peach State Summer Theatre, the athletic program and the art gallery are unavailable in other South Georgia areas.

“Not only does VSU workforce bring dollars to our community, we bring diversity of thought,” Crawford said. “I think that’s really important for a rural area of Georgia. We have a really good diversity of ideas. That is a natural by-product of the university.”

This is the first part of a two part series looking into the the top five public employers. The second part will be published June 12.

The SunLight Project team of journalists contributing to this report includes Stuart Taylor, Alan Mauldin, Thomas Lynn, Will Woolever, Charles Oliver and Patti Dozier. The SunLight project is overseen and edited by Dean Poling and Jim Zachary. To contact the team, email sunlightproject@gaflnews.com.

PART II

THOMASVILLE — When John F. Archbold had an emergency operation at City Hospital of Thomasville in the early 1900s, he thought the growing community needed a larger, more modern facility.

In June 1925, John F. Archbold witnessed the opening of the John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital, a facility for which he had donated nearly $1 million to design, build and equip as a lasting memorial to his father.

Archbold opened as a modern, 100-bed general hospital. 

Now, With 2,795 employees at its hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities, Archbold Medical Center is Thomas County’s largest public employer.

In 2017, the medical center’s economic impact was more than $707 million in revenue for the local and state economy. It also contributed more than $565 million to the local economy during the same period.

Across the SunLight Project’s coverage area – Tifton, Valdosta, Milledgeville, Moultrie, Dalton and Thomasville, Ga., along with Live Oak, Fla. – public employers such as Archbold Memorial were among the top five employers in each community.

Betty Morgan, vice president of business development at the Valdosta/Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce, said South Georgia Medical Center serves as a huge engine for the community.

SGMC is Valdosta’s second largest employer with 2,559 employees, according to the chamber. Employees cover a wide spectrum of jobs.

Kaitlyn Redish, communications coordinator, said SGMC hires highly trained doctors and nurses but also has to hire a staff to keep the hospital well maintained and up to date.

Morgan said the hospital finds the trained and educated workforce from the fourth largest employer in the city, Valdosta State University. 

“That’s what we love to see our businesses do, hire our VSU graduates rather than see them go somewhere else,” Morgan said.

Ross Berry, South Georgia Medical Center chief executive officer, said most of the hospital’s caregivers are required to be clinically licensed. SGMC also has strong relationships with a number of nursing programs, colleges and technical schools in the region, including VSU and Wiregrass Georgia Technical College.

Berry said SGMC’s job is keeping the workforce of Valdosta and Lowndes County healthy, so employees can continue doing their jobs. He said the hospital is an important asset for the community when it comes to drawing new businesses.

“SGMC is a community asset, and I consider it a privilege and honor to be the CEO and to be the custodian of that asset,” Berry said. “Let’s be clear, though, South Georgia Medic Center belongs to the community, and it is important that SGMC deliver good quality medicine, that we become a regional referral system and that we remain independent and strong.” 

For Valdosta and Lowndes County, another attraction for potential businesses is Moody Air Force Base, the county’s No. 1 largest employer with more than double the number of SGMC’s employees.

The base employs about 5,500 people. This includes 4,766 active-duty military and 49 reservists. Moody also has 867 total civilians and 4,369 total dependents. Not all of these are employed by the base, but each person contributes to the local economy in one way or another.

Moody’s total economic impact is more than $532 million, according to Moody AFB Economic Impact Statement for Fiscal Year 2017. The average annual salary for employees at Moody is about $37,000 a year.

The base’s total payroll is more than $314 million.

Morgan said most people in Valdosta have trouble thinking of Moody as a business, but the chamber is an advocate for the base and businesses looking to work with Moody.

“We have members come to us all the time saying, ‘How do I get in touch with Moody?’” Morgan said. “Moody is incredibly important to this community. We want to keep the base here and want the military members to feel welcome.”

The support is recognized and appreciated by people at the base.

Col. Jennifer M. Short, 23d Wing commander, said Moody could not succeed in its mission without the contribution and support of the local communities.

“We are proud to be a part of a community that faithfully and consistently supports our military,” Short said in an emailed statement.

The largest employers in Lowndes County form a thriving eco system. Airmen are stationed at Moody and form families. Their children go to schools such as Lowndes High School or Valdosta High School, the fifth and sixth largest employers, respectively.

The children grow up, go to college and some are hired at SGMC as doctors or nurses.

“We, at the chamber, strongly support our large businesses,” Morgan said. “We will do whatever we can do for them. Small businesses are the backbone of our community, but you need that main structure. You need health care, education and security.”

In Thomas County, the Thomas County School System is the second-largest employer among public entities in Thomas County.

It has 845 employees, said Dr. Dusty Kornegay, former county school system superintendent, who retired May 31.

Of those, 486 are certified employees and 359 are non-certified.

The average salary is $38,643, or $743 weekly. In 2016, the average weekly salary in Thomas County was $833, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“We have a wide range of positions that all support our operations — from bus drivers to classroom teachers to administrators to nutrition workers to computer and maintenance technicians,” Kornegay said. “It is hard to say what the ‘average’ employee does. I would say the ‘average’ employee supports the district’s instructional program. Classroom teachers form the core of our work force.”

Since 2009, teachers have received a 2 percent raise.

Kornegay said stagnant wages are making it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain quality teachers.

County school systems were formed by an act of the state legislature in 1872. The school system serves more than 5,800 students in seven schools and manages a budget of more than $53 million. The school district is funded through local, state and federal funds and grants.

Shelley Zorn, Thomasville payroll development executive director, said the school system has two major influences.

“They employ a high number of citizens, but even more important, they have the largest impact on our future workforce,” Zorn said.

Milledgeville and Baldwin County understand the importance education plays on the local economy. According to the most recent data available from the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce, the top two employers are Georgia College and the Baldwin Board of Education.

Public organizations make up six of the 10 largest employers in Baldwin County, the data shows.

Rounding out the top five is the Baldwin County government, which employs slightly less than 350 full-time employees.

While most college and local government employees are not rich, their salaries tend to hover around, or slightly more than, Baldwin’s $52,837 average annual income, according to the Milledgeville-Baldwin Development Authority.

Each of the county’s largest employers are vital to Baldwin’s economic success, but few, if any, have a larger impact on the local economy than Georgia College.

Having operated in Milledgeville since 1889, GC has long served as an economic engine for Millegdeville by attracting both students and professors to the city. Worker salaries vary widely by department and title, with university President Dr. Steve Norman earning $314,000 a year. However, GC employees generally report satisfaction with their jobs.

“In my position, I get to bask in the accomplishments of all the folks in student affairs,” said Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, GC’s recently retired vice president of student affairs. “My biggest accomplishment here has been talking really good staff and department heads into coming here and somehow managing to keep them from leaving. When you get a team together like that, you’re no longer supervising. You’re out there trying to get impediments out of their way and getting resources to them.”

In Whitfield County, county schools are the largest employer with 1,626 employees, according to data provided by the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority. Dalton Public Schools is second with 978 employees.

Public works has the third largest number of employees, after the police and fire departments.

Dalton Public Works provides a crucial public service through street maintenance, such as traffic signals, signs and markings, stormwater system maintenance, and garbage and recycling pickup.

“We have dedicated crews,” said Public Works Director Benny Dunn, who has been with the department for 21 years and has been director since 2005. “People are assigned to different divisions. But if there is a need — an emergency, a storm, snow and ice — we pull people from other divisions to go where the need is to help out.”

Dwayne Carvell, sanitation lead man, has been with Dalton Public Works for nearly 19 years and has worked in the sanitation division the entire time.

“We have roughly 30 employees,” he said. “It has changed a lot since I got here. We’ve gone to the automated, one-arm trucks. We have more equipment and are more advanced. We service about 7,000 homes collecting garbage and about 4,100 take part in our curbside recycling program.”

The SunLight Project team of journalists contributing to this report includes Stuart Taylor, Alan Mauldin, Thomas Lynn, Will Woolever, Charles Oliver and Patti Dozier. The SunLight project is overseen and edited by Dean Poling and Jim Zachary. To contact the team, email sunlightproject@gaflnews.com.

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256