OCH Regional Medical Center opened its doors and allowed guests to step backward through time for its 50th anniversary celebration on Thursday.
Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” which was popular around the time the hospital opened, welcomed visitors and hospital staff as they filed into the educational facility, setting the tone for the past to meet the present.
“As we look back over the past 50 years, we are proud to have served the community with a broad menu of services, while continuing to reinvest in new technologies and facilities,” said James Jackson, chief executive officer/administrator for OCH. “Our mission as a community hospital is to serve, help and heal; and we look forward to continuing that service in the years to come.”
Jackson credits the work done by previous administrators and boards of trustees as well as the employees of the hospital for having a firm foundation upon which it can operate for “the next 50 years.”
Starkville’s hospital was originally Felix Long Memorial Hospital downtown, but ground was broken in 1969 to build the current facility.
OCH was completed in 1973, but there were a few interesting challenges along the way.
“Initially, Indian bones were discovered as OCH was being built and obviously this caused construction to stop in order to make sure those were handled properly,” said Audra Gines, director of marketing and public relations. “Once that was resolved, construction resumed again. Then the day that they made the move from Felix Long to OCH in 1973, there was a big snow storm that came through.”
When it first opened for operation, OCH had 60 licensed beds and the administration offices were housed in trailers behind the building.
Now, 50 years later, OCH boasts 96 licensed beds as well as a network of integrated clinics, outpatient facilities, 20 medical specialties and more than 300 licensed practitioners.
Pat Kelly, who had worked for the hospital since its Felix Long days and only recently retired, had a front-row seat to OCH’s evolution.
“When I see all of the changes that have happened, it just makes me proud,” she said. “This is a great facility, and we’re lucky to have it in Starkville.”
One such change is a recent affiliation with University of Mississippi Medical Center, which has paid dividends. The president of the board of trustees, Kimberly Brooks, has experienced its success firsthand.
“In September, I came into the emergency room for a routine stress test. … I began to have a heart attack on the table,” she said. “Hailey Hammond in Cardiac Rehab was my guardian angel that day. I feel like if it had not been for our partnership with UMMC, I might not have made it. She got right on it and in 15 minutes, the helicopter was there to take me to UMMC. I had three bypass surgeries that day.”
While OCH has lasted 50 years, it has not been without challenges.
Jackson said the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent issues related to it such as supply chain problems, are chief among the difficulties that the hospital has faced.
He said that OCH will continue actively evolving to ensure its survival as it has done.
“There’s going to always be the need to look at services that we think have a demand that we don’t currently offer and bring them here,” he said. “But we also have to look at costs and continue to trim, as we always have, where we have to in order to not only survive but thrive in this environment. We have continued to reinvest in the hospital. We are replacing some equipment in the wellness center. We are upgrading our Da Vinci Robot (used for certain surgeries). We continually look at our salaries and benefits to make sure that we are competitive. We are doing everything we can to continue to provide high quality service and make sure that quality is not sacrificed.”
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