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STARKVILLE – Baptist Memorial Health Care’s first year in Oktibbeha County was marked by “healthy turnover,” lower wait times and more patients in both the emergency room and inpatient wings of the hospital, Mac Flynt, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Oktibbeha County CEO, told Starkville Rotary Club Monday.

Flynt’s first goal when Baptist took over OCH Regional Medical Center in October 2025 was to reduce the time patients wait for triage in the emergency room. Patient wait times have hit less than 10 minutes since EPIC – a comprehensive technology upgrade that includes systems like MyChart – was instituted in May, Flynt said. He added wait times can fluctuate day to day.

Flynt’s next goal is to limit the number of patients Baptist Memorial Hospital-Oktibbeha County transfers to other hospitals, including Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle in Columbus.

“There is value in having (a) big brother down the road,” Flynt said. “I think you’re going to see some overlap of some services that Columbus and that GTR hospital can offer here in Starkville, and conversely you’re going to see some things where we start to branch out. … I don’t want people to necessarily be confused that we’re not trying to be self-sufficient because we certainly are.”

The majority of patient transfers from Baptist Memorial Hospital-Oktibbeha County are cardiology, gastroenterology and neurology patients, leading those to be the specialties Flynt hopes to expand coverage for over the next five to seven years.

To begin reducing transfer numbers, the hospital plans to implement a new telehealth service from Eagle Telemedicine, Flynt said. This service will allow emergency room doctors to consult with cardiologists and neurologists outside the hospital, who will use an algorithm to help determine if a patient needs to be transferred. He believes this will raise the standard for when a patient needs to be transferred, allowing more patients to stay put.

Lowering transfers is an important goal for the hospital because it helps expand access for community members and it is financially beneficial for the hospital to keep patients in-house, he said.

Since Baptist’s purchase of the formerly county-owned OCH, Flynt said there have been some challenges in integrating the hospital into Baptist’s system. Overall, he said, employee feedback has been positive. While Baptist, as promised, has not let anyone go, there has been “healthy turnover.”

In addition to that turnover came 14 changes in leadership and a new board of directors.

“The leadership changes that I mentioned are not people that were bad performers,” Flynt said. “It was just more so realigning the org chart to mirror and mimic what our high-level strategy is at Baptist, but also trying to find the skill sets and putting people in certain positions where they could be successful.”

Baptist also filled at least four vacancies for board-certified emergency room doctors. Baptist now guarantees patients will see a doctor who is board certified in emergency medicine when they visit the hospital.

Flynt said the employees who stayed at Baptist have an “extremely positive” attitude, helped by the clarity Baptist’s accountability measures give employees. Baptist Memorial Hospital-Oktibbeha County currently has nearly 600 employees and is budgeted for about $172 million in gross patient revenue, Flynt said.

“Our commitment remains the same; we want to provide exceptional care,” Flynt said. “… We want to operate responsibly. We want to continue improving our access and we want to serve the community. … The only way this engine keeps growing is for you guys to choose to stay within your zip code and receive your health care.”