Spotlight on Houston & Henry Counties: Health Care

Southeast Health is a comprehensive health system and a regional referral center serving patients in three states. With 3,000 employees, it is the largest employer in Houston County. 

Over the last 10 years, the health system, which includes Southeast Health Medical Center, the Medical Group, the Foundation, Statera Network and the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, has experienced rapid growth. 

Recent developments include: 

• Southeast Health, which owns the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, in 2020 adopted the same branding to demonstrate the relationship between the two entities.  

• Southeast Health received approval from the Alabama Certificate of Need Review Board to build a new 14-bed critical care unit and add another linear accelerator in its cancer center. 

• The health system built Southeast Health Medical Park on about 39 acres in east Dothan, which includes a partnership with Digestive Health Specialists of the Southeast. Digestive Health also plans two more buildings to give patients easy access to new technology and advanced health care providers.

• Southeast Health Medical Center Clinic opened the region’s only internal medicine residency clinic. 

• The Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine started work on a 10,000-square-foot simulation center, slated to open this fall.

• ACOM’s team took first place in the AMSACon2021 Virtual Patient Challenge, where students compete to develop diagnosis and treatment strategies during timed virtual patient encounters. 

Flowers Hospital in Dothan has 235 beds and has served the Wiregrass for more than 65 years. It is a major tertiary referral system for south Alabama, southwest Georgia and northwest Florida. It is one of the largest employers in Houston County. 

In 2020, Flowers handled more than 38,200 ER visits, 243,000 outpatient visits and 14,900 surgeries. It has 370 physicians on staff. 

Flowers also has several additional sites to serve patients, with six primary care clinics, two walk-in care clinics, three specialty clinics, a breast health center, a wound care center, outpatient rehab services, a sleep-wake disorders center and a Center for Metabolic and Weight Loss Surgery. 

In July 2020, Flowers named Jeff Brannon as CEO. He has more than 30 years of experience in health care administration. 

The hospital has received numerous awards, accreditations and distinctions, including Top Performers on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission. 

Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Dothan has 51 beds and is committed to helping patients regain independence after a life-changing illness or injury. 

It is a leading provider of inpatient rehab for stroke, hip fracture, amputation and other complex neurological and orthopedic conditions. 

Noland Hospital Dothan, located within Southeast Health, provides long-term acute care for medically complex patients. It is part of the Noland Health network, based in Birmingham. 

Laurel Oaks Behavioral Health Center, with 46 beds, provides high quality, acute psychiatric hospitalization and longer-term intensive residential treatment for children and teens, ages
4 to 18.