- 24-hour emergency care
- General surgery
- Orthopedics
- Women’s services and obstetrics
- Pediatrics
- Neurology
- Intensive Care Unit
- Laboratory, radiology and advanced
diagnostics - State-of-the-art clinical technology
Located just off I-55 at Nissan Parkway, Madison River Oaks Hospital is in a great location to serve families throughout Madison County. It will be just minutes away for families in the City of Madison, Canton, Ridgeland and the region.
"Expect
exceptional clinical care in a state-of-the-art facility that will
be convenient for every Madison County resident. We are building the
future of healthcare for Madison County at Madison River Oaks."Dr. Carol Newcomb, Anesthesiologist, Former Chief of Staff
Newsroom
January 26, 2010
HMA, St. Dominic battle
over hospital
MCHerald.com
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Two rival hospitals are asking Madison County municipalities and
citizens for their support in their
longstanding battle
over who should provide health care in the county.
St. Dominic Health Systems wants to build a hospital in Madison,
while Health Management Associates,
whose structure is
under construction in Canton, strongly opposes the idea having
another hospital in the
county right now, saying the
population cannot support a second one.
Officials from both companies have launched impressive ad campaigns
and sought the blessing of
various cities and business
leaders in the past few weeks in an effort to drum up support for
their
respective projects prior to St. Dominic's hearing
Feb. 3-17 on its latest certificate of need application and
staff analysis.
Ultimate approval of the project by the state Department of Health,
which could take several years, would
allow St. Dominic to
relocate 71 beds from the Jackson campus to create a new $21
million hospital and
medical offices off I-55 between
Reunion Parkway and Gluckstadt Road in Madison.
HMA, which owns Madison River Oaks, is fighting St. Dominic's plans
to relocate beds to Madison County
because it would, among
other reasons, harm the hospital financially, said Davis Richards,
chief
executive officer of Madison River Oaks.
"This proposed hospital, if allowed, will compromise the
success of the hospital that we are building here
today," Richards said of the facility scheduled to open late
next year.
"Serving patients throughout Madison County, including the
affluent Southern Madison County, is critical
to helping us
fund the care the hospital provides to the less fortunate in our
communities."
Paul Arrington, vice president of business development for St.
Dominic's, said Madison Mayor Mary
Hawkins Butler and the
city's Board of Aldermen, the Madison County Economic Development
Authority,
the Madison County Business League and the
Madison the City Chamber of Commerce has voiced
support for
St. Dominic in recent weeks.
The city of Canton, however, is backing the $42 million HMA
project, which includes 67 beds on a 30-acre
site off I-55
on Nissan Parkway in Canton. The beds are being relocated to the
new site from the East
Peace Street facility in Canton
known as the Madison County Medical Center.
Both hospitals have asked Ridgeland city leaders for their support,
but they have remained neutral thus
far. Ridgeland aldermen
last week said they would take the issue under advisement.
Arrington says there is a "clear need" for an additional
hospital in Madison County, but HMA is more
interested in
monopolizing health care in the county than serving the patients.
"It's one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, and
it's the most underbedded," he said. "HMA
needs
to stop obstructing our ability to fill the need."
The county's 67 beds represents about three-quarters of a bed per
1,000 people, according to the Center
for Policy Research
and Planning of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning.
The center projects
the county's population will swell from
89,684 to 128,427 over the next 15 years - a 43 percent increase.
Due to the rapid growth, in 15 years time, the number of beds will
fall to about half a bed per 1,000
people, the center
predicts.
Richards contests that HMA does not oppose St. Dominic or any other
hospital's presence in the county,
as long as the
Mississippi state health plan drafted by the state Department of
Health allows for it.
Currently, he said, the plan does not call for any additional hospitals in the area.
Arrington said while the plan does not allow additional new
hospitals, St. Dominic's is only requesting to
relocate
beds from one place to another within a state health department
17-county area that includes
Hinds and Madison Counties.
St. Dominic's is not asking for any new beds, he stressed.
"At the end of the day, our beds will not change the state's
inventory," Arrington said.
The rivalry between the
two hospitals goes back several years.
St. Dominic's initial certificate of need for 100 new beds in
Madison County was filed in 2002, but the
application was
denied.
Arrington said St. Dominic had petitioned for the beds because HMA
filed an application to leave Madison
County for a new
facility in Jackson. HMA's plans, however, were denied. HMA later
filed to relocate its
Canton beds to Nissan Parkway under
the name Madison River Oaks.
St. Dominic fought the relocation of Madison River Oaks after the
Department of Health granted HMA
approval through a
certificate of need in 2005. St. Dominic's lost the court fight and
subsequent appeal.
In 2007, St. Dominic again filed for a
certificate of need for a Madison facility but withdrew the
application
before a decision could be made.
The February hearing will address the company's latest application,
this time for the relocation of beds
rather than the
addition of beds. HMA has vowed to fight St. Dominic's proposal.
Madison County Board of Supervisors President Tim Johnson said he
wants to see the situation resolved.
He welcomes the idea
of having both hospitals and others in Madison County.
"I've done everything I can to help HMA. I've supported them
in their efforts. I also want to offer my
support to St.
Dominic," Johnson said.
"I want the residents of Madison County to have choices,"
he said. "Madison Countians deserve quality
health
care."
Additional Facts at a glance
HMA's Madison River Oaks
LOCATION: off I-55 on Nissan Parkway, Canton
BEDS:
67
SIZE: 113,000 square feet
COST:
$42 million
AMENITIES: 2 4/7 emergency services,
intensive care unit, women's services center and nursery, four
state-of-the-art labor/delivery/recovery suites, surgery and
imaging centers, pharmacy, physical therapy
center
EMPLOYMENT: 230+
St.
Dominic
LOCATION: off I-55 between Reunion Parkway
and Gluckstadt Road, Madison
BEDS: 71
SIZE: 177,631 square feet
COST: $21 million
AMENITIES: Level IV emergency room, surgery/recovery
services, imaging services including MRI,
laboratory and
outpatient services
EMPLOYMENT: 350+