Vidalia — Officials say a reference to a possible medical component in the proposed Vidalia ‘village center’ is not a hint at the future location for Riverland Medical Center.

Documents included in Vidalia’s application to the Louisiana State Bond Commission to fund the proposal reference possible retail and hotel components and “a possible medical center” in the development.

Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said the possible medical center in question is not Riverland and no one has approached him about Riverland being located in the city.

“There are doctors that are building doctor’s offices in Vidalia,” he said. “No one has approached me about this.”

Copeland added that any discussion of Riverland being located in Vidalia would be speculative because the hospital has made no decision about its future.

The Ferriday-based, parish-owned hospital announced last year it would begin a feasibility study to determine how it could best meet the health care needs of the parish in the coming years. Options that have been discussed include renovating the 50-year-old medical center, building a new location on the same property or elsewhere or operating several clinics.

But hospital representatives have been quick to state no plans have been made or finalized and the hospital is in a fact-finding stage.

Riverland Medical Center board member Fred Marsalis said the board has not discussed locating to the area.

“We have not entertained anything of that thought,” he said.

Board member Rena Pitts said the board has not made any decisions about the future.

“What I know about (the Vidalia project) is what I have read in the newspaper,” she said.

Riverland board chairman Jim Graves and hospital administrator Billy Rucker could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Copeland said he has made known to some what he would like for the future of the hospital, but anything he has said was only the statement of opinion and not an assertion of fact. The mayor declined to share his opinion.

The village center has not been formally announced and is only in the proposal stage. Before anything can move forward, the bond commission has to approve its financing.

The Vidalia board of aldermen has approved a resolution to apply for two bonds for the project. The first bond will be for $4.5 million for the purchase of land, while the second will be for $2.5 million for “constructing, installing and providing streets and utilities services.”

Consultants with The Orion Planning Group developed the proposal. The location being considered is on two adjacent parcels of property, 31.67 acres owned by Scroggins Investment Company and 32.72 acres owned by BCHT, LLC.