Local government officials, members of the business community and media representatives joined with South Central Regional Medical Center on Wednesday to celebrate the ribbon-cutting of their new $33 million facility in Laurel.
“We celebrate the completion of a construction project that has been on the drawing board for more than 14 years. The process of acquiring the land these new facilities are located on today took us 11 years, and another year was required to design the project. During this period, we dealt with many individuals and agencies,” said Doug Higginbotham, president and chief executive officer, in a press release.
The new facility includes a new emergency department, medical office building, wellness center, rehabilitation center, helicopter landing pad and additional parking. These facilities will benefit the residents of Jones County and surrounding counties for many years to come.
The new emergency department opened Thursday morning, December 12, and the relocation schedule of several South Central clinics, the wellness center and rehabilitation center is as follows: South Central General Surgery will move December 13 and reopen December 16; South Central Orthopedics will move December 13 and reopen December 16; South Central Urology will move December 13 and reopen December 16; South Central Obstetrics & Gynecology will move December 20 and reopen December 23; South Central Pediatrics will move December 20 and reopen December 23; South Central Wellness Center will move December 27 and reopen December 30; and South Central Rehabilitation Center will move December 27 and reopen December 30.
According to Higginbotham, this project would not have been possible without the help and support of the members of the Jones County Board of Supervisors – Jerome Wyatt, Johnny Burnett, Barry Saul, Danny Roy Spradley and David Scruggs – as well as the support of past members of the board of supervisors.
Members of the South Central Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees – George Walters, Victor Jones, Lewis Goins, Mike Lowe, Becky Brewer, Arthur Siggers and Jay Scoggin – along with Frank Therrell, a past member of the board, spent numerous hours over the years making decisions to get the hospital to this point. During the property acquisition and project development time frame, South Central Regional Medical Center had the support of the three Laurel mayors (Susan Vincent, Melvin Mack and Johnny Magee), as well as Laurel City Council members past and present. Their support came in the form of making some modifications to the “S” curve project and on land acquisition.
Transportation Commissioner Tom King, the Corp of Engineers, the Mississippi Department of Health, and numerous attorneys and financial advisors also aided the project.
Laurel native Mike Foil of Foil-Wyatt Architects and Planners in Jackson was the architect for the project. He has worked with South Central for more than 30 years on various projects. The successful bidder on the project was Mac’s Construction Company of Hattiesburg.
South Central Regional Medical Center qualified for loans from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development. The funding source for the project was provided through two programs – a USDA Community Facility Direct Loan and the USDA Community Facility Guaranteed Loan. The loan covered the construction project, the furniture and equipment for the new areas, all current outstanding debt and the cost of the financial transaction. The annual debt service of the new financing was actually less than South Central’s existing debt service.
The health system borrowed $66,500,000 of which $57,745,000 was a USDA Community Facility Direct Loan. The remaining loan of $8,755,000 was a USDA Community Facility Guaranteed Loan with a 90 percent USDA guarantee. In order to finance the project during construction, South Central Regional Medical Center issued bond anticipation notes with a three-year term. These bond anticipation notes were issued upon final approval from the USDA. The USDA Community Facility Direct Loan was a 40-year fixed rate direct loan while the USDA Community Facility Guaranteed loan was a 20-year loan. Monthly payments began upon execution of the documents. It is anticipated that upon maturity of the bonds, they will be paid off from proceeds of the USDA direct loan upon final USDA approval.
South Central Regional Medical Center has been in this community for more than 67 years. Today, the South Central Health System includes a 285-bed regional medical center, 23 medical clinics, a cancer center, two large nursing homes, an ambulance service, a wellness and rehabilitation center, a wound care center and numerous other programs and services. SCRMC is the second largest employer in Jones County with more than 2,100 employees and an economic impact to our local community annually of more than $200 million.
“We are extremely proud of the new facilities that will allow us to improve access and care to the residents of Jones County and surrounding areas. South Central Regional Medical Center appreciates the support of the community and looks forward to serving all,” stated Higginbotham.
At a recent Jones County Chamber of Commerce Lunch & Learn event, Linda Gavin, vice president of marketing and business development with SCRMC, noted that in the last three years the Laurel hospital has recruited 15 new physicians, six which started this year. She said as physicians retire and the hospital grows they will continue to add new doctors.
“You live in one of the best places in America,” said Gavin at the Lunch & Learn. “People that grow up here don’t realize it. I recruit doctors here from all over the country who will look at eight to ten places before making a final decision, and many of them select Laurel, Mississippi. Many times we don’t know how great Laurel is until we hear it from others who didn’t grow up here.”