Newton hospital awarded grant to buy equipment

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Sept. 24, 2003
Newton Regional Hospital received more support Tuesday for its new hospital building project.
A grant for $403,261 was announced through U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering's office in Washington, D.C. The grant is funded through the 2003 Health and Human Services appropriations bill.
Timothy Thomas, administrator of Newton Regional Hospital, said the grant will be used to purchase equipment, such as a new ultra-sound machine, and furniture.
Newton Regional Hospital was approved for a $6.5 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this month to relocate and construct a larger hospital building.
Land for the hospital has not been purchased yet, but Thomas said surveying of the proposed property was being done Tuesday. The hospital is expected to be built north of Interstate 20, across from the La-Z-Boy plant on Highway 15 North.
Thomas hopes ground will be broken for the new hospital around the first of the year. Plans for the new hospital have to be approved by the Mississippi State Health Department before construction can begin.
The current hospital, which is more than 50 years old, is in downtown Newton. Newton Regional Hospital is a nonprofit organization with a board of directors and about 150 employees.