SunMark Community Bank Provides $50,000 Support to Atrium Health Navicent Peach Through Georgia HEART Hospital Partnership
Atrium Health Navicent Peach is pleased to announce that SunMark Community Bank is reallocating $50,000 of its state tax liability to benefit the hospital in partnership with the Georgia HEART Hospital Program.
“Thank you, SunMark Community Bank for your generosity and assistance in our mission to elevate hope and advance healing for all patients and their families,” said Laura Gentry, Atrium Health Navicent Peach CEO and vice president for Atrium Health’s Georgia primary care service line. “Hospitals like Atrium Health Navicent Peach provide essential services to residents of rural communities, and donations we receive through the Georgia HEART program help keep care available close to home for countless central and south Georgia patients.
Founded in Hawkinsville in 1949 as the Pulaski Banking Company, SunMark Community Bank operates branches in Bonaire, Byron, Fort Valley, Hawkinsville, Perry, Warner Robins, and a loan production office in Eatonton.
"At SunMark Community Bank, we are thrilled to support the Georgia HEART Hospital Program, a vital initiative that bolsters rural hospitals in our community,” said SunMark Community Bank Marketing Director Bre Knowles. “By contributing to this program, we are reinforcing our commitment to enhancing local health care and ensuring that essential services remain accessible to those who need them most. It’s an honor to play a role in fostering healthier communities across Georgia. SunMark Bank is a community bank, committed to you."
Through the Georgia HEART (Help Enhance Access to Rural Treatment) Hospital Program, Georgia taxpayers can receive a state income tax credit for 100% of the amount they contribute to qualified rural hospitals, including Atrium Health Navicent Peach and Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin.
For many years, due to demographic, economic and health care industry challenges, Georgia’s rural hospitals have been facing a financial crisis that has jeopardized rural Georgians’ access to adequate health care. At a time when many rural hospitals are closing, this program allows 54 Georgia hospitals to increase their funding and their ability to provide for the health care needs in their communities.
Georgia HEART program participants contributed nearly $240,000 to Atrium Health Navicent Peach in 2023, helping the hospital to purchase additional telemetry equipment, and to convert the radiology images to a digital platform that decreases radiation exposure, improves turnaround times and improves the resolution of the images.
About Atrium Health Navicent
Atrium Health Navicent is the leading provider of health care in central and south Georgia and is committed to its mission of elevating health and wellbeing through compassionate care. Atrium Health Navicent is part of Advocate Health, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Navicent provides high-quality, personalized care in 53 specialties at more than 50 facilities throughout the region. As part of the largest, integrated, nonprofit health system in the Southeast, it is also able to tap into some of the nation’s leading medical experts and specialists with Atrium Health, allowing it to provide the best care close to home – including advanced innovations in virtual medicine and care. Throughout its 125-year history in the community, Atrium Health Navicent has remained dedicated to enhancing health and wellness for individuals throughout the region through nationally recognized quality care, community health initiatives and collaborative partnerships. It is also one of the leading teaching hospitals in the region, helping to ensure viability for rural health care for the next generation. For more information, please visit www.NavicentHealth.org.
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States – created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois, Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health services nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. It is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs 155,000 teammates across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations and offers one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to providing equitable care for all, Advocate Health provides more than $6 billion in annual community benefits.