New owners have moved into a Gulfport hospital, competing for your healthcare business

Singing River Health System, in partnership with Ochsner Health, has completed its purchase of Garden Park Medical Center in Gulfport, which will be changing its name to Singing River Gulfport, the two new owners announced in a news release Thursday morning.

The purchase means Ochsner, which owns a hospital in Hancock County, and Singing River, based in Jackson County, will for the first time operate a hospital in Harrison County, where Memorial Hospital at Gulfport and Merit Health Biloxi have dominated the market.

Singing River bought Garden Park from HCA Healthcare and will team up with Ochsner on surgical and medical technology, and to expand services such as cardiac and cancer care. The new hospital will be part of Singing River Health System, a nonprofit entity owned by Jackson County.

Singing River and Ochsner began management of the 130-bed, acute-care hospital Thursday morning and should have the new name on signs at the building by the end of October.

“This is another strong step in the progression of our strategic partnership with Ochsner, and together we will build upon our unique strengths and together deliver far more to the people of Mississippi than we can individually,” Lee Bond, chief executive officer of Singing River Health System, said in the news release.

Warner Thomas, president and CEO of Ochsner Health, added:

“This partnership is an example of two leading organizations coming together to build upon our common vision to lead in a time of change. With the addition of the Gulfport hospital to the Singing River family, we will have even more opportunities to expand access to high-quality care along the Gulf Coast.”

The new administrator at Singing River Hospital will be Registered Nurse Tiffany Murdock, was has served as executive director of surgical services at Singing River, which has hospitals in Ocean Springs and Pascagoula.

Singing River and Ochsner hospitals on the Coast are recognized with “A” safety grades from the Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization that tracks healthcare and patient safety, the news release said.

Leapfrog assigns the safety grade to general hospitals in the U.S. .based on prevention of medical errors and other harm to patients.

This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 9:13 AM.