NATCHEZ — In March hospital administrators from Natchez Regional Medical Center were busy pursuing a state required certificate of need that would have allowed the hospital to create a long-term acute care hospital.

Those plans are now indefinitely on hold.

And while the likelihood of an LTACH at the hospital seems slim, its uncertain future is not a result of a negative ruling from the hearing officer.

The movement to quash the LTACH came from within the hospital.

Regional’s new CEO Scott Phillips said the LTACH is not conducive or necessary to the hospital’s current restructuring.

March’s hearing was originally ordered after the hospital’s pursuance of a certificate of need was challenged by administrators at Natchez Community Hospital.

Mississippi law requires a certificate of need be attained to verify an area’s need for an LTACH.

Community’s CEO Tim Trottier said the area’s LTACH needs are already being met by Promise Specialty Hospital in Louisiana.

But now it looks as if Trottier’s opposition, and all the work put into acquiring the certificate of need, were for nothing.

And that is not news many wanted to hear.

Regional’s Board of Trustees Chairman Dan Bland said he, and other board members, feel the LTACH would have been an asset to the hospital.

“I think it’s a great loss to Adams County,” he said. “It’s an asset the hospital could use.”

The asset Bland is referring to is the certificate that would allow the hospital to develop the LTACH.

Regional’s original plan called for the LTACH to essentially operate as a hospital within a hospital for patients requiring extended medical attention.

But while the LTACH would be operated in Regional it would not have been owned or operated by Regional Phillips said.

Most in the healthcare industry say the average LTACH stay is approximately 25 days or more.

And while a near month-long stay in the LTACH would certainly result in high revenues for the LTACH, Phillips said the actual hospital would not be the ultimate beneficiary — the LTACH would.

“They’re essentially renting the space,” he said.

The LTACH was slated to be placed on the fifth floor of the hospital, which is currently not being used.

Phillips said that same space has great profit generating potential.

“It’s extremely valuable,” he said.

But that value will not be redeemed by Regional, it would be only be gotten by the hospital’s next owner, assuming the county decides to sell the facility — and that’s where Phillips said his main concern with the LTACH plan rests.

Since the hospital’s sale or lease is seemingly imminent, due to its current restructuring, Phillips said it does not make sense to enter any contract that doesn’t bolster the facility’s value.

“The hospital is more valuable without it,” he said.

Phillips said the empty fifth floor has immense potential to generate revenue for any potential buyer.

Phillips said the revenue that could be generated from the now empty space is substantially greater than rent the hospital would receive from a company renting the same space.

While rent revenues may not be as great as potential revenues from the empty space’s development Bland said he thinks the hospital should still pursue the certificate of need.

Bland said, if acquired, the certificate could be listed as an additional asset to be packaged with the hospital in its sale.

“It’s another asset we can offer,” he said.

And while it is possible that a buyer could want the certificate, Phillips said the hospital is not in a position to pursue the certificate at present.

“We’re trying to restructure the hospital right now,” he said.

That restructuring includes limiting nonessential expenditures Phillips said.

“We can’t spend more on attorney’s fees,” he said.

Hospital board attorney Walter Brown said the chances of certificate being gained are additionally strained by the hospital’s financial state.

Brown said the Burnini firm that originally represented the hospital in the certificate hearing in March has not been paid.

Brown estimates the firm is owed up to $60,000 for work already done on the case the hospital has yet to pay for.

“I would think the odds that they would do more work until they have been compensated are very small,” he said.

“They would want some assurance.”

Phillips said the hospital is simply not in a position to spend that money now.

To compound matters Brown said the hearing officer, who would have issued the certificate, suspended the hearing when it was learned the hospital intended to declare bankruptcy.

And while the face of the hospital may be changed over the coming months, that change won’t likely include an LTACH.

“Right now it’s in suspense,” Brown said.