VIDALIA — To the applause of onlookers, Promise Hospital officials cut the ribbon on their new riverfront facility Thursday.

The opening of $16 million project is something the company is excited about as a corporation and as a part of the Miss-Lou community, said Richard Gold, Promise Healthcare’s executive vice president and director of hospital operations.

“This is a great market, and we look very much to future success with the community,” Gold said.

Until the hospital can move its patients into the new facility in May, the patients will continue to stay at the current location in Ferriday.

But the new facility is meant to be a break from the Ferriday location, which Promise currently shares with another company, Promise Hospital of the Miss-Lou CEO Lee Huckaby said.

“The purpose of every area was to build an environment conducive to healing,” Huckaby said.

That meant tailoring the different environments for the patients, their families and even the Promise employees, he said.

“We knew if we built for the employee as well it would help healthcare bedside,” he said.

The 49,826 square-foot building is an all-private, 40-bed, long-term acute care facility and is the finest LTACH in the country, Promise Healthcare Regional Senior Vice President Bryan Day said.

“This facility is the showplace,” he said.

A long-term acute care facility is designed for those patients who require a longer than traditional hospital stay for recovery from serious injuries, surgery or sickness.

The company is partnered with Natchez Regional Hospital, Natchez Community Hospital and Riverland Medical Center, Day said.

“We are a part of the great continuum of care in this community,” Day said.

The work to build the new facility was eased by the cooperation of the local community, Huckaby said.

“From the city administration to the police and fire departments, I can’t even tell you how they have worked with us,” Huckaby said. “They were there at our beck and call.”

Hopefully, the new hospital will be an impetus for more businesses to locate in the area, Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said.

“(Promise) made a commitment to the Miss-Lou, and the commitment was job creation,” he said.

“They are going to be a tremendous citizen to our community.”

Promise Healthcare owns and operates 15 LTACH hospitals in six states. Six of those hospitals are located in Louisiana.