Baptist Anderson Regional Medical Center

Baptist Anderson Regional Medical Center (also known as Baptist Anderson Regional Medical Center-North) functions as a short-term acute care hospital with 260 beds and is part of the Baptist Memorial Health Care System. The hospital is fully accredited by The Joint Commission. Baptist Anderson operates as a Level III trauma center and Level III pediatric trauma center. The hospital maintains a health and fitness center, sleep disorders center, outpatient pharmacy and gift shop, diagnostic imaging suite, express care clinic, and pain management clinic, in addition to multiple outpatient specialty clinics. Baptist Anderson has been certified as a Baby Friendly facility. The health system operates three outpatient clinics outside of Meridian: Baptist Anderson Family Medical Clinic-Airpark in Philadelphia, Baptist Anderson Family Medical Clinic-Enterprise in Enterprise, and Hickory Family Medical Clinic in Hickory. As of 2019, the Baptist Anderson Regional Health system employed 1,343 people, making it the third-largest employer in Lauderdale County. The East Central Mississippi Health Network Family Medicine Residency Program utilizes Baptist Anderson for residency rotations. ==History==

In 1929, Dr. Jeff Anderson purchased the 30-bed Turner Hospital in Meridian and renamed it Anderson Infirmary. During the Great Depression, Dr. Anderson mortgaged his private home to keep the hospital open. When the hospital expanded to 120 beds it was renamed Jeff Anderson Memorial Hospital, then renamed Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center in 1975. Anderson Regional began an affiliation with the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 2017. As part of the affiliation Anderson gained access to subspecialties (including pediatric subspecialties), that are not available in Meridian. In 2019, the Baptist Anderson Regional Cancer Center became the first center in the United States to treat cancer using RaySearch Laboratories treatment planning system and Accuray Incorporated's Tomotherapy treatment delivery system concurrently. Anderson Regional Medical Center announced on October 18, 2023, that they would be merging with Baptist Memorial Health Care (based in Memphis, Tennessee), in January 2024. ==Baptist Anderson Regional Medical Center-South==

In 2010, Anderson Regional Health System purchased Riley Memorial Hospital in Meridian and renamed the facility Anderson Regional Medical Center-South. Riley Hospital was a 140-bed facility and the acquisition allowed Anderson to expand inpatient rehabilitation and long-term acute care. Riley Hospital was founded in 1930 by Dr. Franklin Riley. Dr. Riley was a World War I veteran and native of Tupelo who completed his residency at the University of Pennsylvania. He became Meridian's first residency-trained pediatrician in 1922 and was one of the founding members of the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 1930 Dr. Riley opened a 12-bed women's and children's hospital in Meridian, which was the first of its kind in Mississippi. The hospital continued to expand over the years and was converted to a nonprofit facility. Dr. Riley's sons, William and Richard Riley, both completed medical school at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and returned to Meridian to work with their father. In 1998, the hospital was sold to Health Management Associates. ==References==