VIDEO: Oktibbeha County B.O.S. Talks About Proceeds From Possible OCH Regional Sale

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – More on the potential sale of OCH Regional Medical Center:

Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors meets to discuss what happens to the proceeds that would come from the possible sale.

Whether or not OCH Regional is sold will depend on the election on November 7th, but should the hospital be sold Board of Supervisors need a plan on what to do next.

“If the hospital possibly sells, the funds will be put into a reserve trust fund. The principal will not be used. Only the interest will be used off of the principal for needed projects in Oktibbeha County,” said District 5 Supervisor, Joe Williams.

This was the unanimous decision made by Oktibbeha County Supervisors.

The Board feels this will be a learning experience.

“We should educate ourselves and prepare ourselves to make sure that citizens of Okitbbeha County receive the best possible deal, also, that the citizens of Oktibbeha County can rest easy knowing that we will be responsible with the funds if OCH sells,” said District 3 Supervisor, Marvell Howard.

They would not go into this blindly.

Previous hospital sales in the state give Supervisors guidelines on this trust fund.

“Surrounding counties have used that same approach, and it worked very well for them to use interest to work on various infrastructure needs,” said Williams.

The current recommendation is to appoint a tax force to see where the need is greatest.

Some supervisors believe county residents are not aware of the general details of this sale, and will hold a town hall meeting Thursday at 6.

“I think we need to release to the citizens of Oktibbeha County our intentions on what we plan on doing with the funding, to try and get as much general information as we can out to the public and maybe take feedback on the type of information that the public would like to have before they go to the voters polls on November 7th,” said Howard.