Emergency medical services return to Smith County good for healthcare delivery, economy

• The new facility is projected to have an economic impact of nearly $30 million per year and create upwards of 80 new local jobs.

For nearly a decade, some 14,000 Smith County residents have been without emergency medical services. Thanks to a new venture between Covington County Hospital (CCH) and South Central Regional Medical Center (SCRMC) that could soon change.

The systems are collaborating to establish Smith County Emergency Hospital, a new Rural Emergency Hospital. The facility will be located in Raleigh and is scheduled to begin operations in late December 2024 or early January 2025, pending approval from the Mississippi Department of Health.

David Culpepper, Marketing Director for CCH, told Magnolia Tribune on Tuesday that the neighboring rural hospitals are working together to fill a void in healthcare delivery. He said during a time when hospitals’ fiscal struggles make headlines, CCH and SCRMC CEO Gregg Gibbes has taken the approach of “why not us, why can’t we” provide services rural residents lack.

“So many things have been in the press over the past several years of failing hospitals, failing health systems. Is it mismanagement, is it reimbursements, is it uncompensated care? And the answer is yeah, it’s a little bit of all of it,” Culpepper said. “But if you work smarter, you work harder, and you plan and partner, you can do it.”

Culpepper said there is no question recent state and federal legislative efforts to designate rural emergency hospitals and allow collaboration, as well as gubernatorial actions, such as the reforms to Medicaid reimbursements, helped make the venture possible.

“Obviously, small, rural communities in Mississippi just can’t support full-fledged, fully operating acute care hospitals. They can, however, support a critical access or rural emergency hospital,” Culpepper said. “Basically, with the Rural Emergency Hospital status, it allows us to do that where we feel like it’s sustainable and we’re going to be able to continue to meet the needs of the community.”

In November 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through its Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved a rule allowing Critical Access Hospitals and small rural hospitals to convert to a Rural Emergency Hospital. According to the Mississippi Department of Health, a facility is eligible to convert to a Rural Emergency Hospital if it was a Critical Access Hospital or rural hospital with not more than 50 beds as of December 27, 2020, including a hospital that closed after that date. Rural Emergency Hospitals must provide emergency services and observation care and are prohibited by the statute from providing inpatient services. One requirement of the Rural Emergency Hospital status is that a facility must discharge or transfer patients within 24 hours. 

Even still, since Smith County currently does not have a hospital, the opening of Smith County Emergency Hospital will substantially enhance medical care for residents of Smith County and surrounding areas, providing emergency medical services, outpatient services, and reducing travel time.

“The new Rural Emergency Hospital will be a lifesaver for Raleigh, Smith County, and neighboring communities, particularly during an emergency where every minute matters,” said CEO Gibbes.

But health services aren’t the only benefit of this new venture.

The new facility is projected to have an economic impact of nearly $30 million per year and create upwards of 80 new local jobs, according to a study completed by the Trent Lott National Center at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Culpepper added that the facility is also expected to generate roughly $150,000 annually in local taxes and another $254,000 in state taxes.

“It’s going to bring a refreshing sense to the community, providing emergency medical services while also creating jobs and a real economic impact that goes along with it,” Culpepper said.

He said the town is “abuzz” that the opportunity is coming.

Jerry Fields, the President of the Smith County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement that he was confident of the positive impacts that Smith County Emergency Hospital will have on the county.

“We are excited,” he said.

As previously reported, Patients’ Choice Medical Center suddenly closed in the spring of 2023, leaving the area without a hospital. Prior to its unexpected closing, the former hospital offered 29 general acute care beds but no emergency room.

The new Smith County Emergency Hospital, which will be located in the old Patients’ Choice facility, is slated to house the new emergency department, radiology, imaging suite, laboratory, and admissions area.