NATCHEZ — Natchez Regional Medical Center now has official clearance to open its catheterization lab Nov. 18.

The state health officer, Dr. Mary Currier, approved on Tuesday the awarding of a certificate of need to Natchez Regional Medical Center for the lab.

This final approval from the state officer is the last step in gaining permission to open the lab.

The process has lasted 10 months, partially because of an appeal by Natchez Community Hospital to the state’s decision to grant NRMC a certificate of need for the lab.

NRMC board attorney Walter Brown said Currier based her decision on the recommendation of the Division of Health Planning of the Department of Health and the concurrence of the hearing officer.

The certificate of need allows the hospital to re-establish its diagnostic cardiac catheterization and digital subtraction angiography equipment and services.

The staff assigned to work in the lab has been training at the catheterization lab at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson throughout this month.

General Electric, the lab’s equipment manufacturer, will also conduct training sessions in the Natchez facility this month.

The new lab will contain catheterization services cardiac catheterization testing and digital subtraction angiography.

Catheterization testing scans images of arteries to determine if there is any blockage, and digital subtraction angiography is a service used for interventional radiology.

Cardiologist Dr. Brad LeMay said the lab will be used for diagnostics, which are safe to perform without a resident cardiovascular surgeon on staff.

LeMay predicts between 40 and 60 patients will receive diagnostic services at the catheterization lab per month.

Natchez Community Hospital officials filed for a certificate of need in December 2009 to build and operate a catheterization lab, and NRMC officials filed for a certificate of need in January 2010 to reopen its existing lab.

The state requires certificates of need to restrain health care facility costs and allow coordinated planning of new services and construction.

The Mississippi State Department of Health ruled in favor of NRMC in May. Natchez Community Hospital appealed the decision in June and requested an independent hearing for review.

Community Hospital withdrew its appeal Sept. 21, five days before the hearing was set.

The state will allow NRMC to open in 30 days.