Singing River Health System CEO address potential sale at United Way Meeting in Jackson County

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WLOX) - On Friday, United Way of South Mississippi held its 2023 annual meeting in Jackson County.

Dozens of community leaders gathered at the Hilton Garden Inn in Pascagoula for the ceremony and luncheon.

At the top of the meeting agenda was the announcement of five new board members, including Tanya Beech, Lisa Bradley, Matthew Fall, Ravin Nettles, and Katarina Scott. United Way President and CEO, Tee McCovey says he’s grateful for the new additions.

“All five of them are pillars within their communities,” says McCovey. “They’re on the front lines of making sure that our community stays resilient, stays impactful, and stays sustainable in such unchanging times so we’re grateful to have them on board.”

This year, Singing River Health System CEO, Tiffany Murdock served as the featured speaker. She spoke on the future of SRHS and its potential sale. With Singing River noted as the second largest employer in Jackson County, staffing over four thousand employees this is an important conversation for the community.

“The economic impact is very important,” says Murdock. She also wants to make sure “the quality of services at the hospital isn’t skewed.”

As of March 27, the Jackson County Board of Supervisors chose the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System as the highest bidder.

Franciscan is based out of Baton Rouge and already owns St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi among many other facilities. Murdock continues to emphasize that both health systems share the same core values which have played a significant role in why they were selected by the board.

“They understand population health and taking care of people before they get sick and have to come in the hospital emergently,” she says. “Looking at mental health services and retention of their grey employees is also really important to them.”

While Murdock has high hopes for the partnership possibility, she says they are still in the negotiation process.

“We probably have about another sixty days of just negotiations, making sure contractually we get everything done,” Murdock said. “So, finally closing would be . . . So, once the contractual things happen probably early June. Then we start working on the transition of the Health System which will take until about September.

Updates on the pending hospital sale will become available at the Jackson County Board of Supervisors meeting on April 3.

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