Colquitt Regional Medical Center gave Jerry Vereen a portrait as a token of appreciation for his contributions to local health care. From left are Vereen, Colquitt Regional President and CEO Jim Matney, Colquitt Regional Director of Marketing Nicole Gilbert, and Tina Anderson, president of Moultrie Technical College.

This article has been corrected from its original version.

A ceremony Tuesday celebrated both the completion of Colquitt Regional Medical Center’s rehabilitation facility and the beginning of the hospital’s major expansion.

The hospital hosted a ribbon cutting at the Vereen Rehabilitation Center, a 13,000-square-foot facility that features physical therapy, occupational therapy, aquatic therapy, wound care, speech language pathology and The Learning Center in one convenient location.

The facility is named in honor of the Vereen family, whose support for the local hospital dates to the 1930s.

“When the Public Works Administration approved a funding request for the construction of a new hospital in Moultrie contingent upon the community matching the request, Mr. W. C. Vereen began a grassroots campaign for the community to match his personal donation of $50,000,” a hospital spokesperson said. “The community matched his gift, and Vereen Memorial Hospital was built.”

Jerry Vereen, chairman of the Community Welfare Association, cut the ribbon on the center. A plaque on the building will honor the family, and the hospital presented Vereen with a portrait of himself as a token of gratitude.

The lobby of the rehabilitation center will be named in honor of Waldo DeLoache, whose charitable trust, managed by Southwest Georgia Bank, provided a significant sum of money for both the rehab center and the upcoming hospital renovation.

Colquitt Regional CEO Jim Matney also used the ceremony as an opportunity to welcome Marcus Wells, a longtime local physical therapist, to the hospital staff. Wells will move his practice from South Main Street to the new facility on Veterans Parkway at 31st Avenue.

After the ribbon cutting, participants walked across the driveway to a vacant area for a ceremonial groundbreaking. The hospital announced plans more than a year ago for a $30 million renovation, and it’s about to get under way. When it’s complete, the hospital will have a new emergency department, intensive care unit and surgical services, according to a hospital spokesperson.

“This major renovation project will bring a new, modern face to our community hospital,” Matney said. “This is the first time since its establishment in 1975 that the Hospital Authority has taken on such an endeavor.”

Among the most visible changes: the entrance to the hospital will face 31st Avenue instead of South Main Street as it does now.