The OCH Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees is moving along in the process of deciding how the hospital may pursue an affiliation with another system.
Three systems have proposed affiliation to OCH — Memphis-based Baptist Memorial Health Services, North Mississippi Health Services of Tupelo and Jackson-based University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Trustees reviewed presentations from the three systems during a lengthy executive session Thursday. After the board returned to open session, hospital CEO Richard Hilton said they reviewed proposals along 14 areas, and rated the systems based on how they felt they aligned with hospital priorities in those areas. Hilton said he will take that information and compile a report for the board to continue considerations.
The 14 areas, Hilton said, range from improving the hospital’s clinical services and bringing in specialists who might offer part-time services at the hospital, to trying to find cost-saving opportunities through supply chain improvements.
Those improvements, he said, could help OCH keep patients in the area, instead of having to send them out to other hospitals for certain services.
“We’re looking at how to get more professional clinical services available, more cost reductions for delivery of service so we can meet expectations the public has in terms of ‘Keep us here longer before we have to leave,'” he said. “That’s our message.”
The board will meet again on March 27 for its regular monthly meeting. Hilton said he plans to have the report completed in time for that meeting, but he does not know that the board will necessarily make a final decision for affiliation that day.
OCH, an Oktibbeha County owned system, began looking at affiliation amid a hard-fought campaign in 2017 county supervisors set in motion to try to sell the hospital and its clinics. Voters in November, however, opted to keep OCH publicly owned.
An affiliation would create a partnership of shared resources between OCH and a larger system without giving that system ownership rights.
Board chair Linda Breazeale said she felt the board is just getting started in its considerations. She said it will likely take time for a final decision.
“This was a good starting point,” she said. “There are so many issues for us to consider and when you go around a table with this many people, the priorities are going to change from one person to another. We have just begun the process to try to understand what each person’s perspective is on the needs for the hospital and this community.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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