Deal Struck To Save Attala County Hospital

KOSCIUSKO, Miss. (AP) – Attala County will keep its hospital.

Baptist Health Systems will start operation of Montfort Jones Memorial Hospital June 1.

Troy Hodges, president of the Attala County Board of Supervisors, tells The Clarion-Ledger (http://bit.ly/1En8E2z) the hospital would have closed without the backing of the Baptist Health System.

In the past 12 months, the hospital had laid off 38 employees – 24 of which were either nurses or certified nurse assistants – and closed its intensive care unit.

The facility will carry a critical-access designation. That requires a hospital have no more than 25 beds and be located in a rural area. A Baptist press release said its focus is to ensure the community has access to a range of acute hospital services.