{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/new-primary-care-opens-sen-hyde-smith-secured-funding-attends-opening", "New primary care opens: Sen. Hyde-Smith secured funding, attends opening", "2026-08-29", "2026", "2026-08", "Republican", "Senate", "MS", "Cindy Hyde-Smith", "H001079", "www.hydesmith.senate.gov", "hydesmith", "https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/newsroom", "scraper", "By JACK RYAN - Editor\n\nThe weather was sunny and blazing hot Wednesday afternoon during the opening ceremonies for the Southwest Primary Care building. But it also was clear that the mission to improve the area\u2019s elementary medical treatment is warming up.\n\nU.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Brookhaven was among the 100 guests at the event, held under a large tent in the parking lot of the building, located across Marion Avenue from Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center at the corner of Aston Avenue.\n\n\u201cMississippi needs every doctor we can get, and that\u2019s why this ribbon-cutting today is so meaningful,\u201d Hyde-Smith told the assembly. \u201cThere was a real gap that this facility is helping to close.\u201d\n\nThe senator obtained $5.7 million in federal funding for the building, which used to house multiple businesses. The hospital bought the 14,000 square-foot property, renovated it into a single-use facility and resurfaced the parking lot that surrounds the east and north sides of the building.\n\nThe building\u2019s two main functions are to serve as a headquarters for Southwest\u2019s medical residency program, which is now in its third year; and to provide primary care medical treatment from doctors formerly known as family practitioners.\n\nAmong other features, the renovated building has 25 patient examination rooms, and a classroom area where the medical residents gather weekly for meetings with specialists and other education. The medical residents will see patients in the building.\n\nDuring the opening ceremony, speakers emphasized the importance of local medical care, and the Primary Care building\u2019s role in it.\n\nSouthwest Health chief operating officer Robert Weathersby said the building will be where \u201cfuture physicians learn what it means to practice medicine.\u201d\n\nDr. Keith Speed, the residency program director, said the building will increase access to primary care. He predicted that some of the doctors who complete their three-year medical residency in McComb will stay here or in Mississippi to practice.\n\n\u201cToday we\u2019re celebrating a building,\u201d Speed said. \u201cBut more importantly, we\u2019re celebrating what will happen inside this building.\u201d He added that the building is not just a clinic but an investment in this area\u2019s future.", 1, "2026-09-09T09:27:09Z", "2026-09-09T09:29:04Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/new-primary-care-opens-sen-hyde-smith-secured-funding-attends-opening"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5466550830751657, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}