Baptist Memorial Health Care and North Mississippi Health Services have both submitted offers to acquire the Oktibbeha County owned OCH Regional Medical Center in Starkville.
Both proposals met the minimum requirements and have moved to the second phase of consideration.
The two medical organizations confirmed to The Dispatch by email Wednesday evening they had submitted proposals for OCH to the board of supervisors. The county board met in executive session Wednesday morning to take an initial look at proposals and determine which ones would move on for further consideration.
Supervisors declined to specify how many proposals they received or who submitted them, but they did confirm the board met in Wednesday’s executive session with only two legal teams representing bidders.
The board intends to take a deeper look into the specifics of each proposal and select one by May 25.
Chris Anderson, BMHC’s executive vice president and CFO, wrote in an email he is excited about the prospect of bringing OCH into its network.
“Baptist Memorial is a regional health care system that has extensive experience and a strong track record for growing and expanding community hospitals in Mississippi into full-service, high-quality medical centers,” he wrote. “We have extensive experience partnering with communities with large universities, and we can not only bring expanded health care providers and services but also serve as a great partner for Mississippi State University in the training of Mississippi’s next generation of health care professionals.”
Kim Marlatt, NMHS’ chief marketing officer, offered similar sentiments.
“We are pleased and excited to confirm that North Mississippi Health Services is one of the confirmed bidders for the sale of OCH Regional Medical Center,” she said. “We look forward to the potential opportunity of working with the medical staff, OCH teams, MSU and the entire community to improve the health of the citizens of the county and the region.”
Supervisors voted to move forward with the sale in September after Raymond James Financial Services presented results from a feasibility study detailing the hospital’s income, revenue leakage, physician recruitment and retention, debt profile, utilization and capital expenditures.
The study recommended the board sell OCH, specifically suggesting it look for a “strategic capital partner” with a commitment to share resources, expand available services and fund capital needs.
The supes failed in a 2017 attempt to sell the hospital, with voters overwhelmingly opting to keep OCH public. This time around, Mississippi State University and the Greater Starkville Development Partnership both publicly endorsed a sale, as did several local physicians, and a petition wasn’t filed to force an election.
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