POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center announced Wednesday that its parent company, Health Management, will not seek tax abatement for the proposed 250-bed medical campus to be built on Route PP between the U.S. 67 bypass and Shelby Road.

Building the medical campus will require the hospital to pay an additional $1.6 million in city and county taxes annually. An estimated $1.3 million of that money will directly benefit the Poplar Bluff School District, which is being forced to make significant cuts to its budget. Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center currently pays $559,000 in property taxes every year.

"Poplar Bluff schools is excited about the announcement of the new hospital," superintendent Chris Hon said.

Previously, Health Management had considered building the new hospital at the Eight Points development, where tax abatement was secured. That would have allowed the hospital to defer paying property taxes for 22 years in an effort to offset the additional upfront costs building at that location would have required.

The proposed $170 million, 425,000-square-foot medical campus will have 250 private rooms as well as new and expanded health care services, enhanced technology and upgraded medical equipment. More than 200 jobs will be created through the project, which is one of the biggest single corporate investments in Poplar Bluff's history. The medical campus is projected to be open in the first quarter of 2014.

Poplar Bluff is considered a regional medical hub for Butler County and seven other surrounding counties. The medical center employs more than 1,200 employees, making it the largest employer in the community.

Pertinent address:

Route PP, Poplar Bluff, MO