The $5.5 million upgrade project at the Forrest County Health Department is nearing completion, with work finishing up on the parking lot and the exterior of the building located at 5008 Old Highway 42 in Hattiesburg.
Terri Bell, president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, said the project is ahead of schedule and should be done by late April or early May if work continues at the current pace.
“We feel like we’re on target to finish in that time frame,” she said. “They’ll have a ribbon cutting, probably, for everybody to come look (when it’s finished).
“I just feel like that building needed to be updated, and I think the community is going to find the level of service is going to be improved by the new design. We’ll be able to do a lot for the community and meet their needs in the future.”
The funds for the project are provided by the American Rescue Plan Act – the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package passed by the federal government to help the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic – along with monies from Forrest County and other sources. The refurbished facility will offer a drive-through vaccination center, additional exam rooms, extra space and more technology.
“It’s going to be kind of a prototype for all health departments to kind of go in this direction,” Bell said.
David Hogan, former president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, said the renovations will help the center better provide initiatives such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, as well as other health services for the county. In the meantime, the facility – which is located on Old Highway 42 in Hattiesburg – has been temporarily located to Klondyke Street, in the former Hattiesburg Police Department building, to allow time for the work.
“The Forrest County Health Department services the most under-served people in our county and surrounding area, and the building has not been renovated since the ‘80s,” Hogan said in a previous story. “During COVID, a lot of the inconveniences of the building came to light, and it was at that time the board made a concerted effort to get with the (Mississippi) Department of Health to try to coordinate and work with them to make substantial improvements.
“(Those improvements) are not only for the COVID-19 pandemic, but just for general health services throughout the county, for the people that need it the most.”
In addition to the drive-through, exam rooms and extra space, the improvements will include approximately 2,000 square feet added to the front of the building, along with a new roof and more parking.
“It will actually be open for anybody – you can have the best health insurance there is, and still use the health department,” Hogan said. “I believe the public is going to be real pleased with the outcome.
“It should be a lot more welcoming to the general public as a whole.”
County officials have committed approximately $1 million from their funds from ARPA – which is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill issued by the federal government to speed up the United States’ recovery from the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – to the project. Roughly $1 million of the county’s general fund will go toward the renovations, and the Mississippi Department of Health will contribute approximately slightly more than $2.5 million.
The remaining monies will be split between ARPA funding and carryover funds from the county’s general fund.
Hanco Corporation, a Hattiesburg construction company, was the low bidder on the project.
On November 8, 2022, Hattiesburg City Council members approved a lease agreement with Forrest County officials for the use of a portion of the Klondyke Street property for a term beginning November 1 through June 30, 2025. The department will locate there while the current health department on Old Highway 42 undergoes renovations.
Under the agreement, Forrest County will pay the City of Hattiesburg a rate of $2,550 per month, which includes the current pro-rata cost of property insurance and utilities, such as gas and electric.
“The board wants to thank Mayor (Toby) Barker and the city council for allowing us to basically pay the bills over here for this next year plus to let the health department to use their facility,” Hogan said. “We made some minor adjustments and improvements over there, and they’ve gotten settled in over there, and it’s going to function really well temporarily, for the short term, as we make these improvements to the permanent location of the health department.
“My dad, (Dr. Marcus Hogan), who was an OBGYN for 40 years and served on the board of trustees at Forrest General Hospital, used to go to the health department once a week on his lunch hour to see patients. He raised me and my siblings to know the importance of the health department and our publicly-owned hospital, Forrest General Hospital, so there is a personal connection there for me that has always resonated because of the way we were raised by him.”
The department offers services such as pregnancy testing, immunizations for children, STD testing, birth control and the treatment of certain ailments. Once the health department moves back into its permanent location, the Klondyke Street building will be available for other use.
