Baptist Memorial won't fight Olive Branch CON

Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp., Memphis, Tenn., said the system will not challenge a certificate of need granted to Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare, Memphis, to build a 100-bed hospital in Olive Branch, Miss.

Baptist's prior concern with the Olive Branch plans have centered around whether the CON process was followed and whether the hospital would offer a full range of services, especially labor and delivery, to a wide array of patients, including Medicaid and uninsured patients, according to a Baptist news release. Baptist noted that Mississippi regulators conditioned the CON approval on Methodist agreeing to provide Medicaid and indigent care at levels greater than the average of hospitals in the service area and on participating in the state trauma-care system.

Methodist is in the process of hiring an architect, engineers and a construction manager in order to begin the local approval process in Olive Branch, according to a Methodist statement. A timeline for the project will emerge once final plans are drawn up and government approvals are obtained, according to Methodist.