VIDALIA, La. &045; The Vidalia Riverfront is getting more crowded by the minute, it seems.

Promise Healthcare Inc., which owns and operates the Promise Specialty Hospital of Miss-Lou in Ferriday, announced plans this week to open a replacement facility in Vidalia for the Ferriday hospital.

&uot;I think this will be really good for the community and for the medical community as a whole and for our patients,&uot; Lee Huckaby said.

Huckaby, the chief executive officer of Promise Specialty Hospital Miss-Lou, said plans for the new facility &045; to be named Promise Specialty Hospital of Vidalia &045; are still in the very early stages and no details about the proposed facility are available yet.

The Vidalia Board of Aldermen discussed the new hospital at their Aug. 8 meeting when an option for land on the riverfront was put before the board. The Twin Oaks doctors partnership optioned the land for Promise, which will build, own and operate the hospital. The land option will likely go before a public hearing later this month for approval.

The Ferriday hospital is a 40-bed facility specializing in long-term acute care &045; patients who need a lengthy hospital recuperation after catastrophic illness or severe injury, though the hospital provides a variety of services. Huckaby said the new facility will allow the hospital to better serve patients.

&uot;We’re wanting to expand to provide better services to our patients,&uot; Huckaby said. &uot;It also puts us closer to the Natchez area and gives us a better location in general.&uot;

Huckaby said it’s too early to know if the hospital will have more beds than the Ferriday facility, though it is a possibility.