University of Mississippi Medical Center expands footprint by adding hospital

The University of Mississippi Medical Center is expanding.

The academic health system recently completed the acquisition of Merit Health Madison, a 67-bed hospital in Canton, Miss., a city of just over 10,000 residents. The hospital now is branded as UMMC Madison.

With the acquisition of the hospital, the medical center expands its presence in neighboring Madison County, a more affluent suburb of Jackson. UMMC Madison is the only hospital in the county.

Canton is about 26 miles north of Jackson, where the medical center is based. The median household income in Madison County is nearly $79,000, about $24,000 higher than the statewide median.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center says it finalized the acquisition from Community Health Systems, Inc. on May 1.

The Madison hospital, which opened in 2011, has been staffed by UMMC doctors for years, with the medical center providing staffing in the emergency department, officials said. The medical center said it established a business relationship with the hospital in 2019.

UMMC Madison will continue to serve as a community hospital, but university leaders say it will benefit from added specialty services from the medical center. The hospital will also offer more training opportunities for medical students and residents, the university said.

Dodie McElmurray, UMMC’s CEO of University and Community Hospitals, said the acquisition of the hospital “represents a meaningful investment in the health of our communities.”

“UMMC Madison will allow us to strengthen local care delivery while preserving the community hospital feel that patients value,” McElmurray said in a news release. “We’re committed to ensuring a smooth transition for staff and providers and to building a model of care that reflects both local needs and the resources of an academic medical center.”

Health system officials said the acquisition of the Madison County hospital will allow more patients to be able to have surgeries closer to home, while also reducing some of the pressure on scheduling procedures at the medical center in Jackson.

Dr. Alan Jones, the university’s associate vice chancellor for health affairs, said the acquisition allows for better use of operating rooms at the medical center and at the newly acquired hospital.

“With additional operating rooms at UMMC Madison, we can perform less critical surgeries there, freeing up space at the main campus for more complex cases. It’s about using our resources strategically to meet the health needs of our patients,” Jones said.

With the acquisition of the hospital, UMMC can work to get the facility on the same electronic health record system as the medical center, creating added efficiencies and improving patient care.

The pace of hospital mergers and acquisitions has slowed a bit in recent months, with only five announced transactions in the first quarter of 2025, according to Kaufman Hall. Analysts say it’s possible there could be fewer deals this year with uncertainty in the economy and cuts in federal funds for medical research and possible reductions in Medicaid.

At the same time, some academic medical centers have been moving to acquire community hospitals over the past couple of years, partly to alleviate capacity challenges and to expand services beyond their traditional base.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham completed the acquisition of five Ascension hospitals in Alabama last fall. UCSF Health finalized the acquisition of two San Francisco hospitals from Dignity Health in August.