Soon after the Thanksgiving holiday, Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi will make its move to a new facility at 1100 Belk Drive.

There’s nothing easy about building and opening a new community hospital. But, while progress can be prickly because of its disruptive qualities, it is progress nonetheless, and a necessary part of community growth and change.

In other words, everybody will never be happy when a change takes place, but ultimately the community wins with this one.

The new Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi is an excellent facility, the likes of which a community the size of Oxford is fortunate to have. Built at a cost of more than $300 million, the new hospital will better serve patients and families for years into the future.

For Lafayette County, Oxford and the surrounding community Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi serves, it is the right facility at the right time.

It’s just that a move like this is major, so there’s nothing easy about it.

The work has been done in preparation, however, with years of planning from hospital officials. So, early in the morning of Saturday, November 25 — two days after Thanksgiving — the move will occur.

We have no doubt that aspect will go smoothly and that the new hospital will serve this community well.