VALDOSTA — With the promotion of Robert Bauer to president and chief operating officer of Ameris Health System LLC, Smith Northview Hospital now has a new man at the helm, Larry Jeter.

Jeter was named chief executive officer of Smith Northview in March following Bauer’s move to the corporate level of the company, which manages the investor-owned private hospital on North Valdosta Road.

Bauer came to Smith Hospital in 1998 when it was still a small facility in downtown Hahira. He oversaw the move to the new facility in 2002 and managed the many changes the hospital has seen over the past several years.

“Just because I’m not there as CEO doesn’t mean that I’m not still a part of the hospital’s management, just in a new role,” Bauer said. Although he moved to the company’s headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., he is maintaining a residence in Valdosta as well.

Bauer handpicked Jeter to be his replacement, as he and other members of the hospital’s management team have worked with him previously at a hospital in East Tennessee.

For his part, Jeter says is excited to be in his new role. His son worked for a short time at Smith Northview and has since been promoted in the company to another facility, and Jeter and his wife, Nancy, came to know the area while visiting him in Valdosta.

“We got to know the area through my son and made friends here at Forrest Park Church of Christ. I also worked with Shaumb (Purohit), the CFO, for 10 years at a hospital in Elizabethton, Tenn., and really enjoyed it. I’m very excited to be here,” Jeter said.

Having lived and worked in a East Tennessee for a number of years, Jeter said he is enjoying both the weather and the community. “Robert has done a really good job growing the hospital, and I want to continue that growth pattern to meet the needs of the community.”

Jeter said he intends to be active in a variety of area organizations, particularly his church, and is looking forward to overseeing several new projects in the coming months at the hospital.

“We will be expanding our parking and our women’s services,” he said, adding that he has overseen the exact same types of projects at other facilities.

Jeter said his primary concern is not competition with South Georgia Medical Center, but competition with hospitals in other cities. “There is an out-migration from the area to other hospitals, and we need to work on keeping those patients here.”

He is also implementing customer service training programs for hospital employees and working on recruitment and retention issues for personnel.

Bauer will continue to oversee the operations at Smith Northview from a corporate level, as well as four other hospitals in Arkansas and Alabama.

Smith Northview is undergoing several changes, with the addition of a four-bed Intensive Care Unit and the doubling of the size of the nursery and labor/delivery area. Several physicians have committed to expanding their practices on property adjacent to the hospital, and Smith Northview has several acres which will be utilized in the future for additional expansions as needed, according to Bauer.