Four years after it shuttered its doors, Pioneer Community Hospital now belongs to the city of Newton. 

The Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday transferred 14.4 acres of tax-forfeited properties, formerly the hospital run by Pioneer Health Services, to the City of Newton, the office said in news release. 

The total value of the tax-forfeited parcels is $845,100, according to the release. 

The hospital closed in December 2015 due to to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ re-interpretation of their Critical Access Hospital distance requirement regulation. In August 2016, the county tax collector conveyed the property to the state for non-payment of property taxes. 

One of the parcels is 8.4 acres and is valued at $755,100, while the other is six acres valued at $90,000.

“This property transfer is great news for the city of Newton,” Newton Mayor Murray Weems said a statement. “We have missed having a hospital, and we are looking forward to finding a healthcare solution for our citizens.”

The 30-bed hospital, located on Hwy 15. near the industrial park in Newton, opened in 2005 as Newton Regional Hospital, according to the Mississippi Business Journal.

The $6.5-million, 50,000-square-foot facility replaced the old hospital in downtown Newton and was funded with a $403,261 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant and a $6.5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan.

In September of 2010, the USDA allowed Pioneer to purchase the hospital from the previous owner, with the Critical Access Hospital designation being an essential requirement for the transfer to occur. The loss of the designation made operating the hospital no longer financially feasible, forcing the facility to close. 

The hospital employed 150 people and offered inpatient services such as acute care, swing bed and geriopsych services.