Months of planning, hard work and investment will soon provide the Natchez area’s health care a new lease on life.

After decades of competing with one another and occasionally engaging in what one local described as a medical arms race, Natchez Regional Medical Center and Natchez Community Hospital joined forces late last year.

The result hasn’t been clearly visible — yet. But plans to merge the two hospital facilities into one are well on their way.

Plans call for revamping and reinvesting in the Natchez Regional Medical Center’s campus and making it the hub of medical care in the region again.

While some of the work planned may appear as merely cosmetic, the overall plan is not merely a facelift for the aging facility.

In addition to renovating and expanding the emergency room and the labor and delivery areas, the hospital’s work should improve as well.

Clearly focusing its resources on serving patients rather than worrying about the competition across the street should help greatly.

The newly renovated, merged facility should be able to provide the top-notch care the area had when the hospital was first dedicated in 1960.

We’re excited by what could happen for the area when the facility work is completed and the area’s health care gets a renewed clean bill of health.