Gulfport Cerebral Palsy Lawyers

Where Gulfport babies are born, and who owns the hospital

Both Gulfport hospitals that have delivered babies in recent years belong to local government, and one of them stopped routine deliveries in 2023.

Memorial Hospital at Gulfport

4500 13th Street, Gulfport, MS 39501. Phone: (228) 867-4000. Website: Memorial Hospital Gulfport

Memorial calls itself a public, not-for-profit medical complex jointly owned by the City of Gulfport and Harrison County. It is licensed for 328 beds and runs a state-designated Level II trauma center. Its neonatal intensive care unit, on the seventh floor, has 23 beds in 11 semi-private rooms and is staffed by board-certified neonatologists. Memorial describes it as the only Level III NICU on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and Children’s of Mississippi, the pediatric arm of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, manages it. On September 1, 2025, Memorial moved labor and delivery, mother and baby care and the nursery from Memorial Hospital Biloxi to the Gulfport campus.

Singing River Gulfport, formerly Garden Park Medical Center

15200 Community Road, Gulfport, MS 39503. Phone: (228) 575-7000. Website: Singing River Gulfport

Singing River Health System bought Garden Park from HCA Healthcare on October 1, 2020, and its audited financial statements describe the system as a component unit of Jackson County. The 130-bed hospital suspended labor and delivery on April 1, 2023, citing a lack of obstetric provider coverage, and its website now says it delivers babies only in emergencies. A child born at this address could therefore have been delivered by a private company (before October 2020), by a county-owned system (October 2020 to April 2023), or in an emergency since.

Diagnosis, specialty care and therapy near Gulfport

Children’s of Mississippi Gulf Coast Specialty Clinic

1721 Medical Park Drive, Biloxi, MS 39532. Phone: (228) 392-7046. Appointments: (888) 815-2005. Website: Children’s of Mississippi Gulf Coast

The UMMC specialty clinic in Biloxi sees children for neurology, orthopaedics, pulmonology, gastroenterology, cardiology, endocrinology and urology, and reaches other pediatric specialists through the UMMC Center for Telehealth. Closer to home, Bridgewater Pediatric at 8950 Lorraine Road in Gulfport, (228) 396-3238, is one of its general pediatric practices.

Children’s of Mississippi in Jackson

2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39216. Phone: (601) 984-5700, option 2. Website: Spasticity and cerebral palsy care at Children’s of Mississippi

Children’s Neurosurgery at UMMC treats spasticity and cerebral palsy through a multidisciplinary team whose plans can combine physical therapy, medication and surgery. On the same campus, Children’s Rehabilitative Services provides physical, occupational and speech therapy from birth to age 16 and runs an inpatient rehabilitation service.

Memorial outpatient rehabilitation

Main line: (228) 867-4000. Website: Memorial rehabilitation services

Memorial provides outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy across Harrison, Stone and Jackson counties, with occupational therapy for children and speech-language pathologists certified in the SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) feeding approach. Therapy starts with a referral from the child’s primary care provider.

Early intervention and school services in Harrison County

Mississippi First Steps serves children under three who have a significant delay in cognitive, communication, adaptive, social-emotional or physical development, or a diagnosed condition that qualifies on its own. A parent or doctor can refer by calling 1-800-451-3903. The State Department of Health passes each referral to the Local Early Intervention Program where the family lives, and a service coordinator tries to call within 48 hours. Payment rules are explained at the intake visit.

At age three the school district takes over. Federal special education rules require a free appropriate public education for children with disabilities from 3 through 21 (34 CFR 300.101). The Gulfport School District runs Child Find screening and a preschool program for children ages 3 to 5.

Coast organizations and accessible transportation

Disability Connection

700 Pass Road, Gulfport, MS 39501. Phone: (228) 604-4020. Website: Disability Connection

This Coast nonprofit publishes the MS Coast Community Resource Guide, has built accessible playgrounds in Gulfport and Ocean Springs, and runs a Community Assist Program for crisis help and referrals. The Gulfport office opens Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., by appointment.

Coast Transit Authority ADA Paratransit

333 Debuys Road, Gulfport. Phone: (228) 896-8080 or 1-866-206-8843. Website: CTA ADA Paratransit

CTA paratransit carries riders whose disability keeps them off its accessible buses, within three quarters of a mile of a fixed route. An eligibility decision takes up to 21 days. Rides are booked one to 14 days ahead, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., and cost $2 per fare zone.

Mississippi deadlines and damage limits for a private provider

A Gulfport family suing a private doctor or hospital has two years from when the negligence was discovered, or reasonably should have been, and no more than seven years from the act itself (Miss. Code 15-1-36(2)). A child who was six or younger at discovery can file until two years after the sixth birthday (15-1-36(3), (7)). Noneconomic damages stop at $500,000 (11-1-60). Fault charged to the plaintiff shrinks the award in proportion rather than barring it (11-7-15).

The statute does not say whether the seven year limit cuts off a child’s extension, so the careful course is to file before the child turns seven. Two requirements attach to the filing itself. Each provider must receive written notice of the claim at least 60 days before suit, and notice served in the last 60 days before the deadline extends it by 60 days from service (15-1-36(15)). The complaint must also carry the attorney’s certificate that a qualified expert was consulted and that the case has a reasonable basis (11-1-58).

The rules for a claim against Memorial or Singing River

A community hospital owned by a city or county is a political subdivision under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. The Court of Appeals said so about Memorial in Foote v. Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, No. 2023-CA-00504-COA (March 25, 2025), a hip replacement case, and Singing River’s own auditors describe it as a component unit of Jackson County.

Notice comes first. At least 90 days before suing, the family must deliver a written notice of claim to the hospital’s chief executive officer, in person or by registered or certified mail. It must state the facts, the extent of the injury, when and where it happened, the people involved, the amount sought and where the claimant lives (Miss. Code 11-46-11(1), (2)).

The filing period is one year from the conduct. A timely notice pauses it for 95 days, and a denial of the claim leaves a further 90 days to sue (11-46-11(3)). For a child, the Act allows the action within that time after the disability of infancy is removed (11-46-11(4)), but the parents’ own claims get no such pause. Serve notice inside the first year whenever you can, and let your lawyer decide what the infancy rule leaves open.

Recovery is limited too. For conduct after July 1, 2001, everything a governmental entity pays for one occurrence is capped at $500,000, with no punitive damages and no interest before judgment (11-46-15). A judge rather than a jury decides the claim against the hospital (11-46-13(1)). In Foote, a jury assigned the hospital 25 percent of the fault, the judge deciding the Tort Claims Act claim did not adopt that finding, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

A doctor in private practice who delivers at a public hospital is a separate question, and the ordinary rules may govern the claim against that doctor. Which nurses and physicians the hospital employed is one of the first things a lawyer settles from the records.

Where a Gulfport birth injury case is filed

A malpractice suit against a doctor or hospital must be brought in the county where the act or omission occurred (Miss. Code 11-11-3(3)). For a delivery in Gulfport, that is the Circuit Court of Harrison County. Harrison County has two judicial districts (Miss. Code 9-7-141), with courthouses at 1801 23rd Avenue in Gulfport (First District) and 730 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Biloxi (Second District). Its circuit judges sit in the Second Circuit Court District, which also covers Hancock and Stone counties.

A newborn moved to another hospital may have been treated in more than one county. If the alleged error happened after the transfer, venue follows the place where it happened.

What to gather before a Gulfport consultation

Ask the hospital for the complete labor and delivery record, including the fetal heart rate strips, nursing notes and anesthesia record, along with the NICU chart and any transfer paperwork. Keep the child’s First Steps evaluations and any MRI reports. Write down the date you first suspected the injury was preventable, because the private provider clock runs from discovery while the Tort Claims Act clock runs from the conduct itself.

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