CENTREVILLE — Field Memorial Community Hospital in Centreville is in the early stages of acquiring land to build a new facility.

The 25-bed critical access hospital currently resides in a 60-year-old facility that needs updating, hospital administrator Chad Netterville said.

With an aging facility, Netterville said the hospital has spent the past few months looking for land for the future hospital.

“What we have done is asked Wilkinson and Amite counties to help secure us some property,” he said. “We have already identified an area of interest.”

Netterville said the property the hospital is eyeing for its possible location rests on Mississippi 24 at the old Carter’s building property and is split between two county lines.

Since the land is located in two different counties and both counties own the property on each side, Netterville said the process of acquiring the land is a little more difficult than usual, but the overall outcome would be more beneficial.

“We have to sit down and look at what we can afford, and obtaining property owned by the counties would help make that more favorable,” he said.

Netterville said building a new hospital was a better move than renovating the current facility.

“We had some studies done, and they showed that the more cost efficient option was building a new facility,” he said.

Netterville said the hospital knows building a new facility is a long, grueling process and that acquiring the land is just the first step.

“A lot of parts have to come together before it is completed,” he said. “The community has really given us some good feedback on our plans,” he said.

Netterville said the hospital is currently working to speak with Wilkinson and Amite county officials about acquiring the land.