POWERGRAMS

27 Former patients point to the professionalism of employees at the 23-bed hospital. One woman posted on social media about her unexpected visit while driving from Atlanta to Texas: "My car flipped three times and hit a tree. It was just me and my lile dog. I was SO scared but when I got to the hospital, the staff was AMAZING." Georgiana Hospital has two doctors, three nurse practitioners and is one of the major local employers, with 85 on staff. "We have some homegrown nurses, so most of our patients know them," Cook says. "Even though we're small, some people actually prefer to come here. It's the personal care that keeps them coming." Cook notes that in emergencies, it's a 20-mile drive in either direction to reach another hospital, so Georgiana's is oen a lifesaver. There is a helipad for transport when injuries require more specialized treatment. The Georgiana clinic specialty is family practice. Last year, tragedy struck when longtime local physician Dr. Roland Yearwood died while climbing down Mount Everest. Two years earlier he had treated climbers on the same mountain aer a deadly earthquake shook Nepal. His widow, Amitra, continues to work in the local ER. The Yearwoods raised their children in Georgiana and devoted two decades to the community before his death, Cook says. The hospital handles a lot of laboratory work, radiology and CT scans that keep patients in the area from having to travel long distances. Cook has been joined by co-workers, patients and local legislators urging the state legislature to ensure that healthcare will continue in Georgiana and other rural areas. "The smiles on our patients' faces, that's what it's all about, that's what rural healthcare is all about," Cook says. "It doesn't take any special training to treat someone nice." Faye's Florist Sixty years ago, Ken and Faye Gipson built a business that would become a filling station, grocery store, meat market and, for two decades, a Greyhound depot before morphing into a florist shop. To get their dream off the ground, Faye quit her job at Nightingale Uniform Co., one of the city's most successful factories, and Ken le his timber cruising work for W.T. Smith Lumber Co., then the area's largest employer. Bits and pieces of the Gipson's business through the years remain. It's easy to see that the concrete block building was once a Texaco station: the familiar old encircled red star sign is stored inside. There are still large Coca-Cola coolers, a chopping block and all of their city business licenses from the past six decades. Beyond the silk and live flower arrangements that fill the main entrance room, hundreds of family photos line the walls and desktop of Shirley Gipson Hitson, who has helped run the business with her brother, Cecil, since their father died in 2001 aer 51 years of marriage to their mother. However, Faye, who was instigator in the move from grocery store to florist in 1975, has yet to retire. "It made more money than the gas station did," the founder says, smiling. More than 40 years ago, Faye took floral arrangement courses at Southern Living and, through the years, each family member learned the cra from her. "Mother said the other day, 'Boy, if I could only think of something else to make more money," says Shirley. "The silk trucks come around here once a month to deliver, and the drivers tell us about another florist that has bit the dust. There's too much competition nowadays from Walmart, Dollar General, Fred's and the online florists." Faye Gipson says there are only a couple of her original customers still alive. There are no stores still open from a list of nearly 100 local ones a century RN Yolanda Beverly checks on Serena Fails in ER. Shirley Hitson and Faye Gipson arrange flowers.

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