Memorial Hospital is taking over Stone County Hospital and 2 other Coast facilities
Patients who drive from Wiggins to Memorial Hospital at Gulfport soon will be able to stay closer to home.
Management at Memorial announced the Stone County Hospital will begin operating as Memorial Hospital at Stone County on Nov. 1.
Located at 1434 East Central Avenue in Wiggins, the hospital is a 25-bed facility with a Level 4 ER Trauma Center that operates 24/7, according to the website.
This week, Memorial Hospital announced it’s taking over operations of three other facilities. They include:
▪ Stone County Family Medical Clinic at 1440 East Central Ave. in Wiggins will become Memorial Stone County Medical Center. Dr. Robert “Keith” Partrige, who specializes in family medicine, joins the Memorial medical staff along with Howard “Bud” Westbrook, M.D., and Rebecca Harris, N.P., at the medical center.
▪ Memorial will begin operation of the nursing center adjacent to the hospital, which will operate as Memorial Stone County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
▪ Memorial also is adding Woodland Village Nursing Center in Diamondhead. This facility and the one in Wiggins offer independent living, skilled nursing and rehabilitation services and a certified Alzheimer’s and Dementia unit. Woodland Village was recently one of 400 nationwide mentioned on a federal list of facilities that “persistently fall short” of Medicare and Medicaid standards.
“Today, we’re pleased to welcome the medical center, nursing centers, and their staff to our healthcare team as we continue to offer comprehensive medical services in South Mississippi,” said Kent Nicaud, president and CEO of Memorial Hospital at Gulfport.
Just as banks and other businesses are moving to mergers and regionalization, so are medical facilities.
In 2017, Ochsner Health System assumed operation of the hospital in Bay St. Louis in a partnership between the county and the medical system. The facility became Ochsner Hancock Medical Center and has seen several major improvements.
On Wednesday, Ochsner announced a letter of intent agreement for a merger of Lafayette General with Ochsner.
“Our vision is to truly improve the health of Louisianans and people across the Gulf South,” said David Wilson, chairman of the board of trustees of Lafayette General Health. “Just last year, Louisiana ranked as our nation’s least healthy state. By combining our resources and talent, we will be able to provide better access to healthcare here in Acadiana and to continue growing our local economy.”
Under the agreement, Ochsner, which is headquartered in Southeast Louisiana, will invest $365 million in capital and resources in Acadiana over the next 10 years.
Ochsner said in a press release that 307 health partnership transactions were announced in the U.S. over the past 3 years, and 5 in Louisiana just in 2018.
“The reality is that the healthcare industry is fundamentally changing and creating challenges for healthcare providers — especially health systems of our size,” said David Callecod, Lafayette General Health president.
This story was originally published September 25, 2019 at 3:25 PM.
