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Magnolia Regional Health Center

Certificate of needs (CONs) for healthcare service additions, renovations, and new construction are sweeping the Mississippi Delta like wildfire.

Here are a few projects on the horizon promising to improve the quality of healthcare in north Mississippi:



Tallahatchie General Hospital, Charleston

Tallahatchie General and Extended Care Facility received a CON in July 2003 for the construction of a new wing to the hospital to house an additional 60 nursing home beds. In 2005, the facility requested a CON Cost/Overrun Amendment due to delays in construction and changes in architectural plans.

In May 2006, the hospital was granted a CON allowing 30 of the 60 CON-approved beds to operate in the existing nursing home until construction could be completed.

Joey Brunson, administrator of Tallahatchie General and Extended Care Facility, said he needed the extra beds and has had to refuse some people due to lack of space.

"We're receiving bids now for the new wing," Brunson said. "Hopefully, after the holidays we'll make a decision. We have pretty good requests for nursing home beds."



Delta Regional Medical Center, Greenville

Delta Regional received several CONs allowing for the relocation of Solutions Psychiatric Center, Rehabilitation Center, and Wound Healing Center to The King's Daughters Hospital, west campus. The moves resulted in the combination of the adult behavioral health and chemical dependency units into one unit consisting of 16 beds, and the expansion of the geriatric behavioral health unit to 14 beds.

Delta Regional CEO Ray Humphreys said hospital leaders are also currently waiting on approval for financing through Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to begin construction on a dedicated cardiovascular unit, which will house two open-heart surgery suites, a two-bed preparation and recovery area, the conversion of 14 medical/surgical beds to a 14-bed cardiac intensive care unit, and an additional angiography lab.

"This financing will also allow for the expansion and renovation of the current emergency department by approximately 5,920 square feet, the addition of 10 additional treatment rooms, and provide additional space for fast-track patients," Humphreys said. "Additionally, the HUD financing will allow for the renovation and expansion of respiratory therapy, the maternal child center, and the purchase of a 128-slice CT scanner along with other needed equipment."

Most recently, Delta Regional was awarded a CON for the establishment of a long-term acute care hospital to be housed on the third floor of the west campus. This unit will operate as a hospital within a hospital and will utilize 40 long-term acute care hospital beds. Allegiance Health Management, Inc., the firm selected to lease the beds and operate the unit, plans to begin renovation work immediately."

DeSoto Imaging and

Diagnostics LLC, Southaven

DeSoto Imaging and Diagnostics, also doing business as Diagnostic Imaging Specialists, received a CON to establish mobile MRI services in General Hospital Services Area 2, as well as a 64-slice CT scanner. MRI equipment vendor Alliance Imaging, Inc. will provide the services two days a week, along with maintenance of the equipment. The unit is parked at DeSoto Medical Plaza in the parking lot of DeSoto Imaging and Diagnostics.

Kevin Blackwell, CEO of Diagnostic Imaging Specialists, said the mobile center is "state-of-the-art."

"We just opened on December 4, one day a week because of the holidays," Blackwell said. "After Christmas, we'll go to two days a week. We're going to pat ourselves on the back because it's really nice. We're probably seeing about 10 patients a day in it already. We also recently applied for a digital subtraction angiography and the state has recommended approval."



Around North Mississippi

Although technically not in the Delta, there is a lot going on in north Mississippi that should be acknowledged. Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth was granted CON approval to offer open-heart services, which will not only provide improved care, but also between 50 to 100 new jobs. Also to be built there: two new cardiovascular operating room suites, along with a new specialty cardiovascular intensive care unit.

The North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo received approval to construct an off-site warehouse to house the present supply, processing and distribution services center, and to renovate the resulting vacated service center space to meet laundry and central kitchen needs.

Pioneer Health Services of Monroe County, doing business as Pioneer Community Hospital of Aberdeen, has also established mobile MRI services with Alliance Imaging, Inc., which will use a General Electric Signa Horizon® CX unit to perform MRI scans once per week.


February 2007

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