NATCHEZ — While a tentative plan that would have ended in the sale of Natchez Regional Medical Center crumbled in early March, another plan that would bring a joint venture with Ochsner Hospital is still in the works.

And in approximately two weeks Ochsner CEO Dr. Pat Quinlan will be in Natchez to tour Regional and meet with community leaders and members of the local medical community to discuss the venture.

Regional CEO Scott Phillips said if the deal can be secured it will bring new doctors to Natchez and should stop the outward migration of doctors from the city.

Phillips said in rural towns across Mississippi, including Natchez, students that become doctors are not returning to their hometowns or are returning for a short time, then leaving, and creating a shortage of doctors.

“This is not just a Natchez problem,” he said.

And Phillips said the proposed venture is more than just the Ochsner name on a clinic.

“It’s really a research project,” Phillips said.

The possible venture is a research project, Phillips said, because some who helped to developed the idea have theorized that such a venture would stop the outward migration of doctors from rural areas, and will bring new medical services into those same areas.

While the project still needs final approval from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, it essentially calls for Ochsner to enter, and manage, a joint venture with the Regional that could bring 20 to 30 new doctors to the area, Phillips said.

And Phillips said those new doctors would bring new services to the area and could help slow the rush of Natchez residents that leave town for medical attention.

Since Phillips and others believe a successful joint venture would result in lower costs paid my Medicaid, the Mississippi Department of Medicaid will be asked to fund the multi-million dollar project.

“If someone on Medicaid has appendicitis, and there’s no surgeon on duty in Natchez, Medicaid is going to pay a fortune for the ambulance to Jackson,” Phillips said.

But if that same patient can have their operation in Natchez, and their follow-up visits, then Medicaid will see substantial savings, Phillips said.

While Phillips said the project is still in the preliminary stages, an application to Medicaid will be made by the end of June.

“It’s like a research grant application,” Phillips said.

The grant will ask for financing and research for three years.

“This has positive potential for the community,” Phillips said. “And it could create long-term profitability for the hospital.”

Hospital board trustee Dan Bland agreed with Phillips, should the plan come to fruition, it could benefit the city, he said.

“It could be wonderful,” Bland said. “If they can bring new doctors into the area that would be great.”