The Forrest General Hospital Board of Trustees will soon welcome a new member, as officials from the Forrest County Board of Supervisors recently announced that Jana Causey will replace long-standing member Lynn Cartlidge effective early next month.
The announcement was made at the May 15 supervisors meeting, where Forrest County District 3 Supervisor Burkett Ross nominated Causey for the five-year term at the position. Causey, who was unanimously voted approved by the board, currently serves as vice president for Forrest County Operations at the Hattiesburg campus of Pearl River Community College and is a member of the Petal School District Board of Trustees.
“I’m really excited for the opportunity, and thankful that Mr. Burkett Ross nominated me and that the board of supervisors has enough confidence in me to fulfill what I think is a very critical role in our community,” Causey said. “I plan to understand and learn; I’m always an advocate for high-quality health care, and I know how important it is that we hire the smartest and best doctors, nurses and allied health professionals in our hospital.
“They absolutely need to be dedicated to compassion and dignity for patients. I also know that our medical community, when it’s robust and thriving, promotes industry and attracts an educated citizenry, which will boost our economy and in turn, make a better standard of living for all of us in the Pine Belt. ”In addition to her role at Pearl River Community College, Causey also serves as president of the Petal Children’s Task Force, vice president of the Petal Sports Association, and on the Petal Excel By 5 Coalition. She is an active member of Carterville Baptist Church and also coaches basketball, T-ball, and softball.
“I’m definitely committed to being the best that we can be,” Causey said. “I’m really excited to have the opportunity for the people of Forrest County, the Pine Belt and all of our surrounding communities.”
In early 2022, Causey was honored with the Bobby Runnels Leadership Award by the Petal Area Chamber of Commerce. That award is presented annually to someone who serves the community through church, family, school, civic clubs or the chamber.
“She’s well aware of many of the needs by her job at PRCC, where they have nursing programs and technology programs, and they’re trying to provide people to help fill those slots at the hospital,” Ross said. “We’re certainly happy to have her on that board.
“She’ll learn the other side of it; she already knows the clinical side of it. So I’m so happy to have (her on the board).”
David Hogan, president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, also said Causey is an excellent choice for the hospital board.
“We couldn’t be prouder of the strides we’ve made under her leadership (at PRCC),” he said. “We’ve done millions of dollars’ worth of improvements to that facility in expansion – most importantly, and recently, is the RN program moving to the Forrest County campus.
“Jana was instrumental in meeting with (Forrest General president and CEO) Andy Woodard and others from Forrest Health, and we finally convinced them that it was a good thing for them to do.”
Cartlidge, who helped incorporate the City of Petal in 1974 and the Petal School District in 1976, is a prominent Forrest County developer whose projects include the Longleaf Acres subdivision just outside Petal, among others. In December 2011, he retired from the post of Forrest County District 3 Supervisor, having served in that position for 36 years after being elected nine times.
Cartlidge then was appointed to the hospital board to replace Ross, who was elected as the next District 3 supervisor in Cartlidge’s stead. Ross had been appointed to the hospital board by Cartlidge in the late 1970s.
“I’m (about to be) 91 years old, and it’s time to retire a little bit,” Cartlidge said. “I’ve enjoyed working; I was on the (county) board for 36 years and now on the hospital board.
“I’ve been going to board meetings now for over 45 years, and I’m still on a bunch of boards. I spoke with Mr. Ross and he wanted to re-appoint me, and I told him I appreciated that, but at my age I needed to get a younger person on there.”
Although Cartlidge is leaving the hospital board, he plans to continue with his other endeavors, including his development and other board efforts.
“I’m still healthy and still doing good, but I just figured it was just time to let somebody else younger get on (the hospital board),” he said. “I’m still building houses, selling lots and subdivisions and all – I’ve got five subdivisions, and I just opened up a new one.
“I’m still chairman of the Longleaf Trace Rails to Trails, and I’m also still chairman of the Southern Mississippi Planning (and Development District). So I’m still involved in a bunch of it.”
