By Barbara Augsdorfer, editor for the Effingham Herald
Effingham Health System held its White Coat Event April 15 to celebrate the recent accomplishments of its medical team – doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants; and to highlight the generosity of the Effingham Health Foundation donors and supporters.
Effingham Health also honored Dr. Romualdo Laygo for more than 40 years of service to Effingham County.
“The purpose (of this event) is to take a moment to celebrate you, our physicians and our nurse practitioners and our P.A.s. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” began Dr. Fran Witt, CEO and president of Effingham Health System. “Please know you give of yourselves every single day, and we at Effingham Health System, the leadership, we do not take that for granted.”
Dr. Witt’s presentation highlighted the increased services the hospital has been able to provide in the past few years. These include: a 24% increase in visits to Effingham Family Medicine, a 17% increase in Effingham Pediatric Center visits since opening in late 2023; a 53% increase in visits to Effingham Cardiology at its new medical office building. The Effingham Cancer Care Center increased patient treatments by 9% and is operating at full capacity; more than 2,100 procedures have been completed in the operating rooms each year since 2021.
The system’s occupational medicine unit has acquired state-of-the-art technology and signed Sewon as that company’s occupational medicine provider; Effingham Family Medicine opened a fifth location and a second Women’s Health location in Springfield; and most recently, an outpatient Effingham Behavioral Health Center in December 2024 that has already seen 200 patient visits through the end of February.
“And today we had our first pediatric ENT (ear, nose, and throat) surgery,” Dr. Witt announced.
“When we opened our pediatric center two years ago, we promised families in the community that we would bring in specialty care for their children,” Dr. Witt continued. “This is just the beginning of us delivering on that promise.”
According to Dr. Witt, the hospital system’s growth and ability to provide state-ot-the-art services is due to the generosity of community donations through Georgia HEART and the 100% state income tax credit.
Georgia HEART allows Georgia taxpayers to receive a state income tax by contributing to rural health systems. Most recent figures indicate that Georgia HEART contributions to Effingham Health increased 6.4% to almost $948,000.
“Since he hung his shingle in Springfield in 1977, (Dr. Laygo) has treated and cared for 50,000 patients and performed countless surgeries spanning five generations,” said Dr. Alexander Wynn, Effingham Health System Chief Medical Officer in introducing Dr. Laygo.
Dr. Wynn described Dr. Laygo’s medical career spanning the advancements of medicine from “x-ray to ultrasound to CT scans to MRI to now three-dimensional reconstruction imaging,” Dr. Wynn said. “Surgery has gone from open to laparoscopically invasive, to robotics. He has seen a myriad of medicines come and go.
“But with all this, at the end of the day, it comes down to Dr Laygo with his patients (and) the knowledge he's gained from a lifetime of learning and caring.” Dr. Wynn added.
Dr. Laygo’s son Roel is a physician in Savannah. Dr. Wynn added, “Whenever I see a son following in his father's footsteps of medicine, it reinforces to me that Dr Laygo instilled in his son that this profession is both admirable and rewarding.”
