FERRIDAY — The board of Riverland Medical Center could have the information needed to make critical decisions about the future of the parish-owned hospital in hand by the end of September.

“(Stroudwater) is still doing their study, and they are about to get to the financial end of it, so when they come back in September, hopefully they will have everything ready to give to the board,” RMC Administrator Billy Rucker said.

The hospital’s board hired Stroudwater Associates of Metairie to conduct a health care market study to provide information that will in part serve to help the hospital decide if it should renovate, rebuild or relocate from the Ferriday property it has operated on for the last 60 years.

The hospital board has also commissioned a second firm, Elde Bailly, to write an opinion about the proposal only if the Stroudwater study comes back with a recommendation that the hospital renovate or rebuild.

“All of that falls on a timeline process, one before the other, and we are hoping for the September board meeting (to get the initial report),” Rucker said.

“We are trying to uncover all the rocks, to make sure the board — when they make that decision — have made all the considerations they need to make. It is going to be a pretty big decision for our board.”

Discussion of seeking a feasibility study that might ultimately lead to renovations or replacement of the hospital began last August, when doctors approached the hospital administration about what could be done to improve it in the future.

The hospital had a feasibility report conducted by the LaPorte group of Metairie last year, but hospital officials said it was too vague and did not take into account the consolidation of the Natchez hospitals when looking at the local health care market.

Members of the board met in June with representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Louisiana Municipal Hospital Association and Stroudwater group to provide additional information for the study, including how many people from surrounding parishes and counties are admitted to the emergency room and hospital.

At that time, board president Jim Graves said they hoped to receive the Stroudwater report in July. Graves could not be reached for comment Thursday.

RMC opened in 1964 as Concordia Parish Hospital. It is partially funded through a one-fourth-of-one-percent sales tax, which is expected to generate $660,000 annually.