Forrest Health takes over operation of Pearl River County Hospital on February 1st

Poplarville--Last week, the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors and Forrest Health executed their lease agreement for the operation of the Pearl River County Hospital and Nursing Home in Poplarville.

Forrest Health will take over the operations of the facility and pay off the outstanding debt associated with the hospital and nursing home. In addition, Forrest Health will provide the County with annual lease payments over the twelve year term of the lease.

The decision by the Board of Supervisors to partner with Forrest Health not only keeps the Pearl River County Hospital open and eliminate a large amount of debt, it turns the delivery of health care over to a health system with a proven track record of delivering high quality healthcare to the citizens of Pearl River County and South Mississippi.

Highland Community Hospital (Picayune) CEO Bryan Maxie, who is leading the transition for Forrest Health recently told WRJW News of the Forrest Health plan for the facility.

“First, we plan to leverage our presence in Pearl River County at Highland and our presence in Hattiesburg to bring the best services possible to the people in the Poplarville area. Our approach is to create one team in Pearl River County under the mindset of ‘Two great hospitals. One Incredible partnership’.”

Maxie said that in addition to bringing in new services and Forrest General’s state of the art electronic medical record system, he plans to spruce up the facility in Poplarville.

“We plan to start cleaning it up immediately and will invest about $1 million in the first year and will continue to modernize it as we go. We are committed to making this facility top-notch in every aspect,” Maxie stated.

Forrest Health has been working the past few weeks on employee orientation and on-boarding of the members of the current staff who will be a part of the new team going forward.

Forrest Health officially takes over the facility on February 1, 2020.