Jackson County (Miss.) and Ocean Springs, Miss.-based Singing River Health are pushing back on a potential tax break for a new cardiac surgery center in Gautier, Miss., according to an April 29 report from ABC and CBS affiliate WLOX.
Developers want to build a new facility with retail, restaurants, apartments, a hotel and medical services. It is seeking a tax increment financing bond with the city of Gautier to recoup some of the millions that will be spent on infrastructure for the undeveloped land.
Developers have said the proposed development will bring as much as $7 million in revenue to the city through sales and property tax over 15 years.
Jackson County and Singing River are pushing back on Gautier entering the agreement because a cardiac surgery center is included in the development and stands to be a financial competitor.
"We are for development in Gautier," Laurin St. Pe, CEO of Singing River Health, told WLOX. "What we are opposed to is the city of Gautier financially helping a competitor — a for-profit competitor at that — to come into our backyard and compete with the county-owned health system."
Sati Adlakha, MD, an interventional cardiologist and a developer of the new surgery center, said the new facility tried to partner with Singing River but plans could not be finalized, so the center instead partnered with Biloxi, Miss.-based Merit Health and Gulfport, Miss.-based Memorial Hospital.
Singing River is concerned that its employees could be poached by the new cardiac center and leave the hospital short-staffed, according to the report.
A hearing on the tax break is scheduled for May 7.