The state Senate has approved a bill to allow for construction of a 100-bed hospital in Olive Branch.

The bill was passed Thursday. It now goes to the House.

The bill allows the project to bypass the state’s certificate-of-need process.

Methodist Healthcare has proposed construction of a 276,000-square-foot, four-story, $151 million acute care hospital on a 20-acre site at U.S. Highway 78 and Bethel Road in Olive Branch by January 2012.

The bill is Senate Bill 2391.