Methodist hospital approved

OLIVE BRANCH - The Mississippi Department of Health granted Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare's certificate of need request to build a hospital in Olive Branch.

The decision, which came Thursday, has Olive Branch officials and residents excited.

Many Olive Branch officials have been working for years to bring a hospital to the area.

"It's an exciting time for all of us in Olive Branch," said Mississippi State Rep. Forrest Hamilton, R-Olive Branch. "A lot of people have gotten involved in this process and it looks like it's going to finally happen."

David Baytos, senior vice president and CEO of Mississippi and International Healthcare Services, said Methodist will finalize its planning for the hospital over the next several months.

"The approval is of course excellent news to me and the olive branch community," said Olive Branch Mayor Sam Rikard. "Hopefully this is the end of a 12-year effort to secure enhanced medical care for Olive Branch."

Construction is expected to begin early 2011 and could be complete in approximately 24 months.

"This is a very important decision for the community Methodist serves in Olive Branch and surrounding Mississippi communities," said Baytos. "We have many people to thank for their unwavering support for this project over the past few years...definitely the mayor, board of aldermen, State senators and representatives, the Chamber of Commerce, local business leaders and the citizens of Mississippi."

A "stay of proceedings" has now begun meaning any objecting party has 20 days to file an appeal of Methodist's certificate of need. According to Mississippi Code, for a period of 30 days from the date of the issuance of the certificate of need, no construction or other action may be taken until all statutory appeals have been exhausted or the time for those appeals has expired.

"We are still determined to get this hospital built," said Ruth Ann Hale, Director of media and community relations for Methodist.

Methodist's proposed 100-bed hospital would cost $137 million. Early studieshave shown the hospital would provide 536 full time jobs in Olive Branch, with direct and indirect benefits exceeding $1 billion over a three-year period.

"This will not only provide much needed medical care to our citizens but will provide millions of dollars to the construction industry as the hospital is built and all of those jobs as well," Rikard said. "Olive Branch is the fastest growing city in the fastest growing county in Mississippi. Our citizens deserve and need this hospital, I look forward to ground breaking after the first of the year."

Work to install a hospital in Olive Branch has been under way for over a decade but because of DeSoto County's inclusion in a region that includes Delta hospitals, efforts have been stalled. Last July the Mississippi Board of Health changed the certificate of need process to allow counties with populations of more than 140,000 residents to build a second hospital.

"It's a blessing to achieve this after working on it for over 12 years," said Mississippi State Rep. Tommy Woods, R-Byhalia. "It's one of the goals that I have made for myself in the legislature and it's so close to happening."

Woods has said he will retire from the Mississippi House of Representatives when the hospital is built in Olive Branch but said that he still has a few more things he wants to get done before leaving office.

"I have quite a few little things that I would like to finish to enhance our lifestyles in DeSoto County and continue to bring jobs," Woods said. "We're moving in the right direction and that's my goals, to try and help the people."