Assures public NMMC-West Point is financially healthy
An article in the March 6 edition of the Commercial Dispatch has some area residents speculating that North Mississippi Medical Center-West Point might be closing. The article, “Rural Hospitals Look at Affiliations, Diversifying Services to Avoid Closure,” focused on the impending closure of Pickens County Medical Center in Carrollton, Alabama, and stated that 31 hospitals in Mississippi were rated “at risk” in a 2019 study. We would like to set the record straight.
NMMC-West Point has been affiliated with North Mississippi Health Services since 1985. Our local medical staff includes family medicine, internal medicine, pediatric, obstetrics-gynecology, general surgery, urology, hospitalist and emergency medicine physicians. Our 60-bed hospital bustles with baby deliveries, surgeries, a six-bed intensive care unit and a busy Emergency Department. Our campus includes multiple physician practices, an Urgent Care clinic and a Wellness Center.
North Mississippi Health Services has invested more than $5 million in capital projects on the NMMC-West Point campus in the last three years. Telehealth technology now allows local patients to be seen by specialists in Tupelo without leaving their hometown. Last summer we added digital mammography and dedicated the Kitty Bryan Dill Breast Care Suite. In January we welcomed two new obstetrician-gynecologists to our medical staff, and an experienced general surgeon will relocate his full-time practice to West Point on May 1. We have added robot-assisted surgery, as well.
Rest assured that North Mississippi Health Services would not make these significant investments in a hospital that was at risk for closure. NMMC-West Point operates as a not-for-profit. Excess revenue over expenses is invested back into our facilities, services and staff. Our hospital remains financially sound, and our medical staff and employees remain committed to this community.
Barry Keel
Administrator of North Mississippi Medical Center-West Point
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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