Baptist Memorial Health Care and Anderson Regional Health System of Meridian, Mississippi, have finalized their merger, which was initiated with a shared mission agreement signed on Oct. 18, 2023. Baptist Memorial leaders officially welcomed Anderson Regional on Tuesday, Jan. 2, and held a staff celebration on Tuesday, Jan. 9 in Meridian.
Anderson Regional, founded by Dr. William Jefferson Anderson in 1928, includes two hospitals, a cancer center and multiple clinics.
The merger will include a renaming of Anderson Regional hospitals to Baptist Anderson Regional Medical Center and Baptist Anderson Regional Medical Center-South. Other changes will include updating Anderson Regional’s electronic health record system to the Epic electronic health record system, the most widely used and comprehensive EHR in the country.
“I am excited to welcome Anderson Regional to the Baptist family,” said Jason Little, president and CEO of Baptist Memorial Health Care. “With similar missions and close geographic proximity, we serve a comparable patient population who face many of the same issues. By joining forces, we can combine our resources and expertise to help enrich the health of the community and ensure ongoing access to high-quality and advanced medical services throughout East Central Mississippi and West Central Alabama.”
Baptist Memorial will now consist of 24 hospitals, with 12 hospitals in Mississippi, making it the largest health care system in the state.
“Our staff at Anderson Regional is excited to officially join Baptist Memorial Health Care,” said John G. Anderson, president and CEO of Anderson Regional Health System and grandson of Anderson Regional’s founder. “This is a new era for Anderson and an opportunity to continue my grandfather’s legacy for health care in Meridian. He started Anderson just 12 months before the Great Depression, and through creativity, ingenuity and determination made the hospital a success. His focus was on the future, and merging with Baptist Memorial allows us to stay laser-focused on the future of providing quality health care for this region.”
