Beacham Memorial Hospital in the City of Magnolia received the first certificate-of-need exemption under Mississippi’s newly created Small Community Hospital Pilot Program, State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney told the Mississippi State Board of Health on Wednesday.
Edney said the exemption will allow Beacham to convert to an acute care site. Before the pilot program was established as part of the passage of HB 1622 during the 2026 legislative session, such a change would have required the full certificate-of-need process, Edney said.
The law allows each small community hospital one exemption, with hospitals in the Delta Public Health Region eligible for two, Edney said. State Sen. Hob Bryan, D, told the Senate in March that about 55 hospitals could qualify for exemptions under the measure. “Some of the most interesting conversations I’ve had have been with rural hospitals outside of the Delta trying to decide which exemption they want to ask for,” Edney told the board.
The measure also permits a total of eight exemptions for the establishment of outpatient dialysis units in community hospitals statewide, with two exemptions allowed in each of the state’s four public health regions, Edney said. No applications for that dialysis exemption had been sent to the Mississippi State Department of Health as of last week, he said. Exemptions for dialysis will not be granted on a first-come, first-served basis; priority will go to facilities furthest from existing units, Edney said. “We’re going to wait 45 days before issuing the first one,” he said.
As part of the Rural Health Transformation Program, Edney said the department awarded a contract to develop a statewide health assessment. He outlined three major projects under the program: BRIDGE, which offers capital funding for rural hospitals; efforts to modernize IT infrastructure and cybersecurity; and a push to expand telehealth access. Applications for part of the $80 million available for those projects close on Wednesday, July 15, with awards set to be announced on Aug. 15, and Edney said there is strong interest from smaller rural hospitals. “This is an opportunity for those hospitals to get funding to build those programs out,” he said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
