By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Sept. 15, 2003
Newton Regional Hospital has been approved for a $6.5 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to relocate and construct a larger hospital building.
Official announcement of the loan is scheduled to be made today at 4 p.m. in the lobby of the current hospital in Newton.
Nick Walters, director of the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development in Mississippi whose office will distribute the money is scheduled to attend the event.
Timothy Thomas, administrator of Newton Regional Hospital, said plans call for building a 50,000-square-foot hospital which would be slightly larger than the existing 40,000-square-foot building.
The hospital is expected to be built north of Interstate 20, across from the La-Z-Boy plant on Highway 15 North.
He said ground could be broken for the new hospital around the first of the year.
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.