It’s a date city, county and state leaders, along with Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare officials, have long anticipated.

The Mississippi Department of Health is conducting a Certificate of Need hearing to determine if the city of Olive Branch should have its own hospital. The hearing, scheduled for March 2-11, is being held in Jackson.

“We recognized there’s a need for a second hospital in DeSoto County, due to the growth that has occurred and the projected growth,” observed David Baytos, Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare’s senior vice-president/CEO of Mississippi and International Healthcare Services. “The interaction I’ve had with Olive Branch has been very positive regarding the need for a hospital.”

Methodist is proposing the construction of a 100-bed hospital on the southeast corner of U.S. Highway 78 and Bethel Road. If approved, Baytos said the facility could be open for business by January 2013.

“This is a matter of the utmost importance and has been a priority of mine for a decade,” said Olive Branch Mayor Sam Rikard. “Olive Branch and DeSoto County need this hospital.”

Not everyone, however, shares Rikard’s viewpoint. Alliance Healthcare System in Holly Springs and Baptist Memorial Health Care, which operates Baptist Memorial Hospital – DeSoto in Southaven, are both against the proposed facility.

“At this point, our primary concern is that Methodist follows the certificate of need rules,” said Baptist spokesperson Ayoka Pond, “along with the provisions the health department put forth when they changed the certificate of need guidelines.”

 The changes include:

n  Provide an amount of indigent care in excess of the average of the hospitals in the General Hospital Service Area as determined by the State Health Officer or at least 4.1 percent;

n  Provide an amount of Medicaid care in excess of the average of the hospitals in the General Hospital Service Area as determined by the State Health Officer or at least 16 percent;

n  Establish outpatient services in Tunica County or any other adjacent county without a hospital;

n  Fully participate in the Trauma Care System at a level to be determined by the Department for a reasonable number of years to be determined by the State Health Officer; and

n  Participate as a network provider in the State and School Employees’ Health Insurance Plan as defined in Mississippi Code Section 25-15-3 and 25-15-9.

Alliance representatives have stated that their opposition stems from the belief that the proposed Olive Branch hospital would “negatively impact” their plans to open a similar facility in nearby Holly Springs. Alliance has announced plans to construct a 48-bed hospital to replace the 40-year old facility the entity operates on the east side of Holly Springs.

Baytos said that at the conclusion of the CON hearing, the hearing officer will review all the evidence and make a recommendation to the state health officer. If all goes according to schedule, he added, the CON could be approved by late summer.