Jackson County’s Board of Supervisors announced Monday it chose Louisiana Catholic nonprofit Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System to purchase the Gulf Coast’s Singing River Health System.
The decision comes after an extensive proposal period in which potential buyers put in bids for the Mississippi hospital system. Singing River CEO Tiffany Murdock announced last year the 700-bed hospital system was seeking a buyer to put it on firmer footing for the future.
“This is an exciting day for Singing River Health System,” Murdock said in a statement. “Our future with the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System ensures that Singing River will be able to meet the needs of our employees, patients and community members for years to come. Together, we will build on the strong foundation Singing River has established since we first originated as Jackson County Hospital in 1931.”
While hospitals across Mississippi came out of the pandemic in the red, Singing River’s finances were in decent shape, and it even grew its revenue in 2021. Murdock said she was pushing for a buyer while the system was an appealing investment, fearing the challenges in years to come.
“We’re coming at it now at a place of strength,” Murdock told a community group in the town of Hurley in August 2022. “And in five years, I can’t promise you the same thing.”
Hospitals have been facing increasing costs from labor to supplies. Rural Mississippi hospitals have been struggling to stay afloat. Singing River hopes that by teaming up with a larger system, they’ll be able to better trim costs because of the scale at which purchases are made.
While not in danger of shuttering its doors like other hospitals in the state, Singing River hasn’t been without its own challenges since seeking a buyer. Its Gulfport hospital recently suspended its labor and delivery services because of a physician staffing shortage.
The system says it wants to reopen obstetric care but it’s unclear when that will happen. Its last day of service is April 1.
In its announcements about acquisition, Singing River said the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System is committed to “keeping care local, investing in our community and investing in our people.”
“We are excited about the possibilities for healthcare in our region and believe the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System is the right choice,” Jackson Board of Supervisors President Ken Taylor said in a statement. “Fundamentally, they share our community values and have a mission to provide equal access to healthcare for all.”
The Catholic system already operates St. Dominic Memorial Hospital in Jackson and nine facilities throughout Louisiana. Its headquarters are in Baton Rouge.
Singing River has hospitals in Gulfport, Ocean Springs and Pascagoula and several walk-in clinics and other medical facilities across the Coast.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Republish this article
For digital publications:
- Look for the “Republish This Story” button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS).
- Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the “Republish This Story” button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
- You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
- You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
- Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
- If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.
For print publications:
- You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer “Author Name, Mississippi Today” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Mississippi Today” and include our website, mississippitoday.org.
- You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
- You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Kayleigh Skinner for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
- Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
- You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
- You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
- Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
- If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.
If you have any other questions, contact Audience Development Director Lauchlin Fields.
1
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Read original article by clicking here.