By Boyana Peeva
VALDOSTA — Business for the owners of Azalea Sleep Labs and a new professional center has been anything but sleepy.
North Ashley Professional Center located on the corner of Ashley Street and Connell Road broke ground over two years ago, and is now housing the newly opened Azalea Sleep Labs, Inc., as well as the offices of 12 other businesses.
The professional center’s local partners are Mike Hill of Mike Hill Real Estate and Micah Shapiro of Shapiro Properties LLC. It includes 30 condo offices available for small professionals who are looking to buy — rather than rent — property for their businesses.
“By ‘small professionals,’ I mean a one- or two-man accounting firm, insurance agent, real-estate broker, doctor, etc. and their staff,” said Hill.
According to him, the number of suitable residential-conversion properties is both limited and shrinking compared to the population growth, and such properties are not always available or are very expensive.
“After over 30 years in real estate, it’s only been recently that I was able to find suitable property to buy. That search is partly what led to the development of North Ashley Professional Center and North Ashley Center,” he said.
The center suits Azalea Sleep Labs.
Larry Simpson, president and one of the registered polysomnographic technologists (RPSGT) of the Azalea Sleep Labs has been in sleep medicine for more than 12 years, and has worked for several companies, mainly out of town. He also did contracts with some local hospitals, after which he decided to open his own sleep lab. Two years ago, he opened a sleep lab, but recently he decided to look for a larger place to move. “We needed a larger lab because we were doing well, and we needed more space,” he said. “So instead of renting, it was a better investment to buy a sleep lab and build it from the ground up. That is how I met Mike Hill who had a good opportunity for me over here in North Ashley Professional Center.”
Simpson said a sleep lab provides diagnostic testing on patients for sleep disorders. Physicians refer their patients to a sleep lab, where patients need to spend a night.
Specialists record what happens to them physically throughout the night using special sleep computers, and these reports go back to the physician for interpretation.
The physician might need to send the patient back to the lab for additional monitoring. Patients can be tested for about 80 typical disorders, including sleep apnea, narcolepsy and insomnia.
“One out of three Americans have a sleep disorder which makes sleeping or waking miserable,” according to azaleasleep.com.
Some symptoms may include irritability, depression, morning headaches, high blood pressure or disruptive snoring.
The new sleep lab has a total of six beds — four for patients and two for spouses. Space is available to add two more beds eventually.
Simpson said the comfort and the state-of-the-art equipment are what make Azalea Sleep Labs different from a typical clinic.
“Our setting is more of a home-type setting, rather than a hospital or clinical setting,” he said. “So our patients are more comfortable at night, and it’s easier for them to relax and sleep.”
Queen-size beds, flat-screen televisions, night-lights, white-noise generators and easy-to-access bathrooms are some of the features that show the high standards at Azalea Sleep Labs.
Nine technicians work at the lab. Three are RPSGTs, including Simpson, and the rest are respiratory therapists and practitioners.
In addition, the lab provides a conference room where physicians and nurses can attend seminars and receive medical credits.
To contact Azalea Sleep Labs, visit www.azaleasleep.com or call the office at 333-7601 or (877) 333-7601, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m.-noon Friday. For more information on North Ashley Professional Center, call 242-1014.
