by Claudia Hall, Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Planning, Southeast Health

In the last 10 years, Southeast Alabama Medical Center (SAMC) has grown into a comprehensive health system and a regional referral center serving patients in three states. With 2,800 employees, SAMC is the largest employer in Houston County and an economic asset in the region that can make us all proud. It’s this growth that facilitated the need for a newer, regionalized brand name. So on October 1, we officially became Southeast Health.

Take a moment and think about your first meal at your favorite local restaurant. You can probably still hear the warm greeting as you walked in the door to the mouthwatering aroma of home cooking. Has that restaurant grown over the years? It may have expanded, added new menu items, opened additional locations closer to where you live, changed its look and even changed its name. No matter the changes or the location, it still continues to provide the service and quality food that attracted you many years ago. Whether it is a restaurant or a trusted name in healthcare, the world is changing – and so are we.

WHY SOUTHEAST HEALTH

Re-branding as Southeast Health positions the health system for the future. Through this transition, we have maintained the belief that it’s vitally important that we honor our past – while focusing on our future. Southeast Alabama General Hospital became Southeast Alabama Medical Center in 1976, and that name served us well for more than 40 years.

Regional growth, an expanded footprint, and a new focus on medical education led the Houston County Health Care Authority to select Southeast Health as the name to represent the entire health system.

This is an important strategic initiative that prepares our organization for the future. As a trusted community resource, it’s important that we invest in it wisely. Our investment in this name transformation is less than one half of one percent of our operating expenses.

HEALTHCARE IS EVOLVING

Healthcare in this country, and in our community, is experiencing tremendous change. Providers of healthcare services are working together, offering locations closer to your neighborhood, becoming more complex, and working hard to meet your needs and expectations. That’s why you see healthcare industry leaders like UAB Medicine, Emory Healthcare, Piedmont Healthcare, Atrium Health and others investing in branding strategies. We have a new need to communicate who we are, what we offer and where we serve.

WE’RE PROVIDING and MAKING GREAT DOCTORS

Maintaining and improving access to care has become a strategic priority for our organization. We have expanded access to healthcare by developing and acquiring primary and specialty care clinics closer to you. Did you know our health system now employs 187 physicians and advanced practice providers in 14 locations?

A growing medical group presence is just one of the ways Southeast Health is focused on providing our community with great physicians. We were the first free-standing hospital in the country to build its own medical school – Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine – and we have recently launched a Graduate Medical Education program that will allow 39 internal medicine residents to train right here in Dothan.

Our healthcare provider network is also growing in other ways. We’ve partnered with area hospitals to develop a regional stroke care network. We continue to shape the future of healthcare by partnering with our physicians on population health strategies that will improve quality and reduce the cost of health care for our community.

We appreciate the trust you have placed in us in the past – it is a trust we plan on continuing to earn in the future. Welcome to Southeast Health!

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We know patient experience influences your decision of where you receive your healthcare. That is why we work every day to earn your confidence in the care we provide. As we make the transition to Southeast Health we know that it’s important to help you and your family make this transition with us. The guide below shows some of the changes to our naming structure:

Southeast Alabama Medical Center = Southeast Health Medical Center
SAMC Foundation = Southeast Health Foundation
Southeast Pain Management Center = Southeast Health Pain Management
Urological Associates = Southeast Health Urology
Enterprise Medical Clinic = Southeast Health Enterprise Clinic
Houston Medical Clinic = Southeast Health Eastside Clinic
Westway Medical Office = Southeast Health Westway Clinic
FirstMed = Southeast Health Westgate Clinic
AltaCare = Southeast Health Psychiatry
Southeast Cardiovascular Associates = Southeast Health Surgery Clinic
Southeast Surgery Associates = Southeast Health Surgery Clinic
Heart Rhythm Clinic = Southeast Health EP Cardiology
NeuroSpine Center = Southeast Health NeuroSpine Center
Neurology Associates = Southeast Health Neurology
Rehab Services (East) = Southeast Health Circle East Rehab
Rehab Services (West) = Southeast Health Westway Rehab

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This is part of an ongoing series covering the impact of changes in healthcare in our region.