VIDEO: OCH Searches for Potential Affiliation Partners

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – After Tuesday’s vote, OCH remains county-owned. They’re now looking for ways to expand services.

Now, the hospital is looking to partner with larger corporations.

CEO, Richard Hilton, didn’t waste any time to get things moving with the option of affiliation.

It can be a lengthy process, but if successful, Hilton wants to mend the divide created between the voters who were for and against the sale.

November 7th’s election is done and business continues at OCH, but administration has been given a wake-up call.

“A lot of people have expectations, so we need to really drill down to what can we reasonably do to help meet those expectations that they feel we’re short on,” says Hilton.

The board of trustees has given CEO Richard Hilton unanimous approval to search for affiliation partners.

This could potentially bring additional medical services to the area.

“It is strictly where one entity gets involved with another entity and saying ‘Hey. We’ve got something that we think we can offer you that can improve revenue and reduce cost,'” says Hilton.

Swift reaction to look for partners has voters, who were for the sale, asking questions.

“We did need some additional support. We need some additional resources, and if the local control can provide those additional resources then of course there would be no need to even consider a partner,” says President of the Board of Supervisors, Orlando Trainer.

OCH believes they can provide more services in the future through affiliation rather than a buyout.

“I want to look at physician revenue, which means we want to get a provider here that does not want to come to a smaller community but would be willing to come on a part-time basis versus a full-time basis that couldn’t support itself,” says Hilton.

Though the result was to keep the hospital, county leaders look to the future.

“I think that the election does have some good connotations out of it, as it relates to from the county’s standpoint, because the administration realized that they can’t continue to do like they have done, and so we’ll wait to see exactly, you know, what the recommendations are, what they’re looking at doing, and trying to see how they will help Oktibbeha county continue to be the county it needs to be,” says Trainer.

Hilton says he’ll be working the phones to contact other hospitals.