Local * From staff reports

River Region Medical Center has been cleared by the Mississippi Department of Health to move its chemical dependency beds and services from Marian Hill facility on McAuley Drive to River Region Medical Center West Campus on North Frontage Road. The department of health issued a certificate of need to River Region Thursday.

“It certainly is our hope to have everything in place for the move by the end of the year,” said Diane Gawronski, River Region director of public relations.

The relocation will include a renovation of 22,338 square feet on the fourth floor of the West Campus location. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $953,195.

The hospital’s chemical dependency beds and services are the last remaining River Region operations from the Marian Hill facility. Gawronski said the hospital’s lease at the facility will expire “sometime later this year, so it is key for us to make this move.”

The certificate of need program has been administered by the state health department since 1986. Since then, more than 1,300 applications have been reviewed, the aim of which is to prevent unnecessary duplication of health services in the state.