SYLVANIA - While the purchase of a small-town hospital by a group of doctors is not a common practice in Georgia or even the U.S., Screven County Hospital CEO George St. George said it was precisely that unusual opportunity that steered the county's Hospital authority to decide to sell. Screven County Hospital was an independent hospital prior to being managed by Memorial Health out of Savannah for more than 10 years. That relationship ended in 2005, at which point the Hospital Authority became solely responsible for the hospital's management.