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The need for an expansion of Ocean Springs Hospital is greater than ever post-Katrina. But the transfer of 60 hospital beds from Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula to Ocean Springs Hospital has been stymied by a Mississippi Supreme Court ruling.

The city of Ocean Springs has asked for the help of Gov. Haley Barbour in getting the expansion approved for the hospital that currently has 136 beds.

"I find it very frustrating that this extremely important expansion was halted on the basis of a technicality," said Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran. "The expansion is absolutely necessary. There are times when the hospital is full to the point they are unable to accept even emergency patients. Clearly that is a grave situation. Unfortunately, it is all about business competition whereby the present system allows competitors to quash the expansion of a neighborhood hospital that has provided award-winning services very efficiently. Many people are living here in Ocean Springs because there was less damage from Katrina than our sister cities. Demand is high at present for healthcare services."

In 2003, the Mississippi Department of Health (MDH) recommended approval of a Certificate of Need (CON) to transfer 60 beds from the Pascagoula hospital. The decision was appealed by some of the for-profit hospitals in Harrison County: Biloxi Regional, Garden Park Medical Center, Gulf Coast Medical Center and Gulf Coast Surgery Center. Those hospitals prevailed in a Supreme Court ruling that overturned the CON stating the hospital should have applied for 60 new beds rather than a transfer.

According to MDH, the CON process is designed to avoid duplication of healthcare services and to promote healthcare cost containment. If beds are underutilized, then the cost of providing those healthcare services is spread across fewer patients, and the cost per patient will increase.

Ocean Springs has experienced some of the most rapid residential growth on the coast.

"In the face of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, and given the demographics as baby boomers are aging, we should be looking to expand our healthcare capabilities not only in Ocean Springs, but coast wide," Moran said. "Some hospitals in the state are considering asking the legislature if the entire Certificate of Need process needs to be done away with. Let market competition guide the expansion process. Or at least institute reforms."

MDH and Ocean Springs Hospital have appealed the Supreme Court decision. Ocean Springs Hospital administrator Kevin Holland said they are waiting to hear from the Supreme Court regarding the appeal.

"If they don't reconsider or they uphold their decision, then our next step is to essentially file another CON application requesting 60 additional beds," Holland said. "This project would have moved forward when the Department of Health approved it in 2003 if the for-profits didn't try to overturn the Department of Health through the upper courts."

Holland said the Supreme Court decision was unusual because the Supreme Court overturned the MDH in the interpretation of its own rules. MDH wrote the rules and interprets the rules. But the Supreme Court said MDH didn't interpret its rules correctly.

Currently Ocean Springs Hospital is put on diversion status because of capacity related issues.

"When we go on diversion, what that means is we have to notify ambulances we are full," Holland said. "In a true emergency close to the hospital, the emergency room will stabilize the patient who will then possibly be transferred to another hospital. What that means is we are unable to handle any additional inpatient needs that may present at our hospital. It's an important distinction."

Holland said the need for the expansion has only increased since 2003 — and especially since Katrina. He said volumes are up 10 percent since Katrina hit for a number of reasons including more routine injuries due to the number of people in the area doing disaster relief, and additional patients from Harrison County because of inability or unwillingness of those hospitals to provide the level of trauma care in their community needed.

"It is a tremendous irony we are being asked to care for these patients, and we are glad to do so, but we are frequently forced to go on diversion because we don't have enough capacity to take care of the patients from the hospitals that opposed our expansion," Holland said.

In addition to patients being inconvenienced by not being able to go to the hospital closest to home, Holland said the delayed expansion also hinders physicians when they can't get their patients admitted to the hospital.

Calls to area for-profit hospitals for comments on this story were not returned by press time.

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