When the Mississippi Board of Health voted 5-3 on July 8 to change the certificate of need (CON) process, the move put Memphis-based Methodist Healthcare a step closer to building a 100-bed acute care hospital in Olive Branch.

 

Before the process change, CONs were issued based on an evaluation of data, including the number of vacant hospital beds within a particular region. With only one hospital in DeSoto County—Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto in Southaven—the argument that DeSoto Countians were crossing state lines for healthcare may have swayed board members to consider options. Every year, Methodist treats more than 7,000 inpatients and 42,000 outpatients in its Shelby County hospitals from Mississippi.

 

Last month's CON process change now allows counties with a population of more than 140,000 to have a second hospital. The new process also requires counties seeking a second hospital to project a population growth of 10 percent over the next decade and be located in an area with a lower than average bed-to-population ratio. The population for DeSoto County was estimated at 149,393 in 2007.

 

The landmark change, effective Sept. 1, clears a major stumbling block for Methodist, which is planning to build the $151 million, two-year construction project at a site near U.S. Highway 78 and Bethel Road in Olive Branch.

 

Hospital officials, who have fought for CON approval for years in the Mississippi county bordering Tennessee, and had lobbied for CON approval via the legislative route, considered the CON process change a victory.

 

David Baytos, senior vice president and CEO of Mississippi and International Healthcare Services for Methodist, announced shortly after the July 8 meeting plans to file a Letter of Intent this month and a CON in September for the Olive Branch hospital. Mississippi Board of Health approval for the CON remains necessary before hospital construction may begin.

 

"A 100-bed Methodist hospital in Olive Branch would improve our ability to serve DeSoto County residents in their own community and also positively impact the local economy," said Baytos, who played a key role in securing approval for an expansion at Methodist-LeBonheur Germantown, where he previously served as CEO. Baytos was promoted to lead Methodist's Mississippi mission in May.

 

In January, as state lawmakers were huddling over conference tables discussing which bills to introduce and move forward, the Methodist CON bill among them, Methodist released a University of Memphis study that estimated the construction of a new hospital in Olive Branch to have a $1.3 billion impact on the local economy. Based on the RIMS II Regional Economic Model developed by the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce, that figure includes direct expenses and direct and indirect dollars being re-spent within the community within the first three years of the facility's operation. The proposed hospital's capital outlay of $151 million, the study showed, would contribute $349 million to the local economy and 536 full-time jobs in Olive Branch. (Board of Health officials did not approve proposed revisions concerning economic considerations to Chapter 8, "Criteria Used by State Department of Health for Evaluation of Projects," in the CON Review Manual.)
"Olive Branch is the fastest-growing community in the fastest-growing county in Mississippi," Baytos said. "It's our continuing desire to bring healthcare services closer to those we already serve and to those who wish to choose Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare as their provider."

 

Last year, Methodist opened an outpatient facility on Goodman Road in Olive Branch that includes Methodist Minor Medical Center, LeBonheur Urgent Care and the Methodist Sleep Disorders Center. Methodist also owns and operates the Carvel Imaging Centers in Olive Branch and Southaven.