Hospital sales, legal drama, CEO shakeup: A timeline of noteworthy Singing River news
A lot has changed at Pascagoula-based Singing River Health System over the past two years.
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to Wednesday’s announcement that the hospital system is seeking approval to integrate or sell, here’s a look at noteworthy moments from SRHS over the past two years.
The COVID-19 pandemic
Singing River Hospital opened its coronavirus floors at Pascagoula and Ocean Springs hospitals to show the reality of COVID for patients and frontline workers on the Mississippi Coast.
July 2021: Singing River prepared for a “surge” in COVID-19 hospitalizations during a summer increase of new cases and deaths before the delta variant ravaged the Coast.
August 2021: Nurses on a COVID ICU floor explained how they’re hitting “compassion fatigue” with the unvaccinated as hospitals filled and patients got sicker. “The whole, ‘health care heroes’ thing, that was nice and everything,” one nurse told the Sun Herald. “But that’s never what any of us needed. We needed people to wear their masks… now we need people to get shots.”
August 2021: Singing River allowed the Sun Herald inside the Ocean Springs Hospital emergency room that was overwhelmed with COVID patients. At the time, it was described as a “war zone” and “horror movie” as health care professionals fought to keep up with the rise in new patients, many of whom were unvaccinated.
September 2021: A Singing River doctor warned South Mississippi that the delta variant was causing increased sickness and hospitalizations among children.
September 2021: Then-CEO Lee Bond said Singing River was holding off on requiring vaccinations among hospital workers, saying that it would impact critical staffing more negatively in Mississippi than other parts of the U.S. that had higher vaccination rates.
November 2021: Singing River and other hospital systems on the Coast laid out incentives, raise plans and other things they were doing in an effort to retain nurses as many left due to COVID burnout or high-paid travel jobs.
January 2022: Coast hospitals, including Singing River, begged Mississippi lawmakers and Gov. Tate Reeves for financial help to retain nurses as omicron caused another surge in COVID cases and hospitalizations.
Gulfport Hospital sale
October 2020: Singing River announced the purchase of Garden Park Hospital off U.S. 49 in Gulfport. The hospital is run in partnership with Ochsner Health.
SRHS pension plan lawsuit
June 2022: Singing River Health retirees got a court date in new lawsuits failed over the hospital system’s failed pension plans.
CEO abruptly leaves Singing River
February 2022: Lee Bond, who led SRHS through the COVID-19 pandemic, abruptly resigned during a special-called meeting of the Singing River Board of Trustees over a “personnel matter.” Bond left to pursue other career opportunities, a release from the hospital said.
Singing River is ready to sell hospital system
June 2022: Citing complexities of the U.S. healthcare systems and “strong headwinds,” Singing River announced the Board of Trustees approved a sale or “integrated model” of the hospital system, which now must be approved by the Jackson County Board of Supervisors. Ochsner is expected to bid, SRHS said.
This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 2:50 PM.
