It came as a surprise that an auction sign appeared in the Simpson County Industrial Park in Magee for one of the buildings that was the former home of Pioneer Health Care.
The property is currently being auctioned on-line with the bidding set to close at noon on Wednesday, June 30. As of Friday, June 4, no bids had been submitted. The starting bid is listed at $250,000 for the 35,000 square foot property.
The owner of the property is Trustmark Bank, represented by Austin Adams, ORE manager. He confirmed that the property was previously listed with the Estes Group, which handles investment real estate for Trustmark, and that he was unaware that the Magee facility was being auctioned off.
The only issue that exists is a current request from the Simpson County Board of Supervisors through the State Attorney General’s Office to make a determination about the existing covenants on the property.
This came about after Covington County Hospital expressed interest in purchasing the other Pioneer building for use as a medical clinic. On the advice of county attorney Danny Welch, the county board contacted the Attorney General’s office for an opinion as to whether the other building could be used for patient care or if the covenants restricting its use to industrial business purposes would be enforced and prevent the use of the property for a clinic.
This property has also been under consideration from the Simpson County School Board as a possible site of a consolidated high school. However, School Board President Danny Cowart refused to comment as to whether it is still being considered.
The issue of covenants did not surface in regard to conversations about the disposition of the property with Donnie Caughman, executive director of the Simpson County Development Foundation.
The original occupant, Pioneer Healthcare, filed bankruptcy, Trustmark Bank took ownership, and the facility was then bought by Ascentium, a medical company that offered similar services through Lackey Memorial Hospital in Scott County. Ascentium later rebranded themselves as Kanopy Health Care and vacated the premises in November 2020, when they relocated to Tuscan Towers in Magee, which is also owned by Trustmark. This occurred when Trustmark called the note due on the Magee Benevolent Association that owned Tuscan Towers and forced Magee General Hospital into bankruptcy.
