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‘They treated us like criminals’: UMMC lets go of most instructors for Oxford nursing program

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The University of Mississippi Medical Center has let go nearly all of the instructors at its Oxford-based accelerated bachelors of science in nursing program, prompting outcry from current and former students who worry this will hurt their chances of passing the national nursing exam.

The move, announced last , came in the middle of the program's one-year cycle. Students received an email on May 1 that described the as “difficult” a few hours after five of the program's seven faculty members were informed that UMMC would not renew their contracts this summer.

“Please understand these personnel changes are not punitive, rather this restructuring is based on programmatic and student needs,” wrote Julie Sanford, the dean of UMMC's School of Nursing, and Leigh Holley, an assistant dean who was one of just two instructors to not be let go. Neither administrator responded to Mississippi Today's requests for comment.

Days later, students received even more personnel : Sanford, who UMMC named dean in 2019, would be leaving for a new position at the University of Alabama's nursing school.

One of the five faculty members, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear that UMMC would revoke their remaining month-and-a-half of pay, said she was devastated by the decision and caught completely off guard. She said the only reason they were given is that “it was a business decision.”

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“I just want you to know that I have committed my and career to this institution and to this program and to these students,” the faculty member told Mississippi Today. “I feel completely betrayed, especially when you look up the mission … of the School of Nursing. … They are not living their values and their mission and our whole faculty team did.”

Even though the instructors' contracts aren't up until June 30, the faculty member said that Sanford, Holley and a representative from UMMC's Human Resources made faculty members turn in their badges and computers. Someone from UMMC was folding moving boxes during the meeting.

“This is why it's so, so confusing,” she said. “You give us no reason, and you told the students it's not punitive, but they treated us like criminals.”

A spokesperson said UMMC had “no comment” on the decision. Holley, who joined the program last fall, wrote in the email that she would continue teaching courses, along with instructors from the program in Jackson who will up. It is unclear if this arrangement will continue for future cohorts or if instructors will be permanently replaced.

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“We're very fearful for the of our students, which is our number one concern, really,” the faculty member said. “We have a nursing shortage. We're living in a of desperation for nurses.”

The Oxford program, started in 2014, is one of several undergraduate nursing programs offered by UMMC and primarily caters to recent graduates who did not major in nursing. It is intensive and rigorous, packing an entire bachelors degree into just three semesters.

More than 60 students a year have graduated from the Oxford program in recent years, with many filling positions at Mississippi hospitals amid the state's pervasive nursing shortage. According to recent data from the Mississippi Hospital Association, registered nurse vacancies and turnover rates have soared in the last year to the highest numbers in at least a decade.

One of the current students is Ashley Ledbetter, a 38-year-old former teacher who is using the program to change careers. As one of the older students in the program, she said the instructors made her feel comfortable and taught her how to navigate the at-times traumatizing profession, such as the first time she saw a patient die during clinicals.

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The irony, Ledbetter noted, is that her cohort is about to enter the third and final leg on May 30, the most crucial stretch. She's worried it will be harder to prepare for the exam with all-new instructors.

“I feel that, really, if you were focusing on student needs, you wouldn't have taken away one of the most fundamental parts of this program before the program is over,” Ledbetter said. “Our faculty got fired in the middle of the program and that, to me, is very insane.”

On May 1, shortly before Holley and Sanford sent the email, Ledbetter said she was asked to attend a virtual meeting with other student leaders.

During the meeting, which lasted roughly 20 minutes, Ledbetter said students were told the decision was due to the program's falling pass rates on the National Council Licensure Examination, or NCLEX.

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But Holley and Sanford did not say if the pass rates were threatening the program's accreditation or were simply lower than UMMC wanted, Ledbetter said. The most recent nursing report from the Institutions of Higher Learning shows that UMMC's undergraduate NCLEX pass rate fell from 100% to 95.9% during a three-year period ending in 2021, but the includes all of UMMC's undergraduate baccalaureate nursing programs.

“We kept being told they couldn't give us any more information because of HR policy,” Ledbetter said. “It was very vague.”

UMMC's bachelors of science in nursing programs, including the Oxford program, were reaccredited last year.

The faculty member said that Sanford and other UMMC administrators had previously singled out the Oxford program for its low NCLEX pass rate despite pass rates falling across the country during the pandemic.

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“We've definitely felt under scrutiny for the past couple years, and we have been told outright, ‘if you don't bring up your pass rates, we could end this program,'” she said. “We have bent over backwards for students and changed things, but we were just never really given a to watch how what we changed played out.”

A few hours after Holley and Sanford's first email, Holley sent a follow up, acknowledging students' reactions to the abrupt announcement. The cohort's GroupMe blew up with texts; the instructors whose contracts were not renewed were receiving dozens of supportive messages on Facebook.

“Hi all, I know this news is unexpected, unsettling, even saddening and prompts many questions,” Holley wrote.

One of the instructors who was let go, Neeli Kirkendall, had been honored for her teaching. In 2016, she won the DAISY award for nursing faculty. One student who nominated Kirkendall for the award described her as “the ideal example of the perfect nurse.”

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Kirkendall did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Alison Doyle, who graduated from the program in 2020, said she thought the lower NCLEX passing rate was likely due to the pandemic even as she felt the quality of the instruction actually improved after her classes were moved online. She was able to record and rewatch lectures rather than scramble to take notes in real time.

Doyle described the bonds that students had formed with the five instructors who were let go.

“I saw these women for 12 months more than I saw anyone else in my life when I was in nursing school,” she said.

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University of Mississippi had been investing in the program in recent years, converting a former hospital in Oxford into instructional in 2019, according to a UMMC newsletter.

Other state universities are replicating the program. In January, the University of Southern Mississippi launched the first class of a similar program at its satellite campus on the coast.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

Senate committee passes Medicaid ‘expansion’ bill that leaves hundreds of millions in federal dollars on table

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mississippitoday.org – Sophia Paffenroth and Taylor Vance – 2024-03-27 16:39:21

The only surviving expansion bill in the Legislature passed the Senate Medicaid Committee Wednesday and is headed to the full Senate for a vote. 

But the proposal, as it passed the Senate committee, is not considered traditional “expansion” under the Affordable Care Act, and therefore would not qualify for the enhanced federal the to newly-expanded states. It would leave the cost of the expanded coverage up to the .

The Senate committee passed the House Republican bill with a strike-all, meaning it replaced the bill's original language with its own plan, which Medicaid Committee Chairman Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, refers to as “expansion light.”

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Blackwell estimated about 80,000 people would be eligible under this version of expansion, and half of that would apply. The House plan was expected to cover more than 200,000 people.

When a draft of the Senate's bill was leaked on March 20, Blackwell stressed to Mississippi Today that he and Senate were still tweaking parts of the legislation. However, the legislation that passed the committee is essentially the same as what was outlined in the leaked draft. 

The Senate proposal would:

  • Cover working Mississippians up to 99% of the federal poverty level. For an individual, that would be an annual income up to $15,060. For a family of four, that would be an annual income up to $31,200.
  • Not cover those making between 100% and 138% of the federal poverty threshold — not even through a private-care option. A plan that doesn't cover people making up to 138% is not considered “expansion” under the Affordable Care Act, meaning Mississippi wouldn't qualify for the 90% federal match rate that the Affordable Care Act grants to new expansion states, nor the additional, two-year 5% increase in match rate the federal government provides to newly-expanded states under pandemic relief spending passed by Congress. Instead, as was the case with Georgia, Mississippi would only get its regular federal Medicaid rate of about 77%.
  • Leave the insurance exchange, the online marketplace that offers federally subsidized plans to people who make between 100% and 138% of the federal poverty level, intact. The Senate plan, unlike Arkansas' Medicaid expansion, would not provide extra subsidies from the state's federal Medicaid money available from the ACA.
  • Include a work requirement mandating at least 120 hours of employment a month in a position for which health insurance is not paid for by the employer. That's more stringent than Georgia's plan, which mandates 80 hours a month. There are several exemptions, such as for full-time or who are the primary caregiver of a child under six years old.
  • Go into effect 30 days after the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approves a waiver necessary for the work requirement. That's unlikely to happen under the Biden administration, which has rescinded work requirements previously approved for other states during the Trump administration and has not approved new ones. If the federal government denies the waiver, Mississippi would have to wait until a new administration took office, or sue the Biden administration. Georgia remains in litigation with the federal government over the work requirement issue, and has suffered low enrollment and missed out on millions in federal funds by not fully expanding coverage.
  • Require anyone who voluntarily dropped private insurance to wait 12 months before applying for Medicaid coverage.

Senate Democrats voiced several concerns about the administrative burden of the work requirement and the 120 hour a month minimum, which is even stricter than Georgia's plan – currently the strictest expansion plan in the country. 

Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson

Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, asked Blackwell about the enhanced match from the federal government.

“So the federal government paying our match for two years and 90% after the two years – we would not qualify for that?” Blount asked.

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Blackwell said that is correct, and they would leave that money on the table.

Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, introduced two amendments: one to decrease the recertification requirements from four times a year to twice a year, and the other to reduce the work requirement hours from 120 hours a month to 80 hours a month. 

Both amendments were voted down by Republicans, who make up a majority of the committee's membership. Despite their amendments getting shot down, the Democrats still voted in favor of the bill. Only three Republican senators in the committee voted against the plan. 

When asked about the administrative burden of enforcing the work requirement, Blackwell said he is not worried and believes the Division of Medicaid has enough employees for its implementation. 

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But Georgia, the only state currently with a work requirement in its expansion plan, has spent $26 million taxpayer dollars to ensure a mere 3,500 people to date. More than 90% of that has gone to administrative and consulting costs. 

The bill is expected to be taken to a floor vote as early as Thursday, with a deadline of April 10. 

Since the Senate plan is drastically different than the House proposal – which is a mostly-traditional expansion plan insuring those who make up to 138% of the federal poverty level and would go into effect whether or not the federal government approves a work requirement waiver – a final version will likely be hammered out later in the session in a conference committee.

Any final plan would realistically need a two-thirds majority from both chambers to show it has the potential to override a potential veto from Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who has privately told lawmakers he plans to veto any Medicaid expansion bill.

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Reeves on Tuesday night hosted around 20 state senators at the Governor's Mansion in downtown Jackson where he, again, reiterated his opposition to any form of Medicaid expansion, according to multiple people familiar with the situation. 

At the Tuesday night , Reeves said he would veto the Senate's expansion plan if it reached his desk, though he reportedly said he approved the Senate's work requirement provisions. 

Shortly after the committee passed the expansion legislation, Reeves posted on social media that the Senate plan is “still bad policy” and he will oppose it.

“And so I will continue to do what I told the voters I would do – fight Obamacare Medicaid Expansion with every ounce of my being,” Reeves said.  

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This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Michael Guidry named Mississippi Today managing editor

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Mississippi Today is pleased to announce Michael Guidry as managing editor.

Guidry, who joined the Mississippi Today staff in February 2024, manages the newsroom's day-to-day and plans broader editorial strategy.

He previously served as managing editor at Mississippi Public Broadcasting, where he developed skills in audio storytelling as a producer, writer and editor.

“Michael is a perfect fit for what we're building at Mississippi Today,” said Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today's editor-in-chief. “He's a proven newsroom leader, and he knows Mississippi. He also brings us a lot of digital and audio skills that can expect to see more of pretty quickly.”

A native of Destrehan, , Guidry moved to Mississippi to attend Millsaps College, where he earned a dual Bachelor of Arts in History and Theatre. After graduating, he worked as a public school teacher for more than a decade.

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Michael Guidry

While at MPB, Guidry helped a team that received recognitions from the Radio Television Digital Association, the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters and the Public Journalists Association.

MPB's special feature on – which he co-produced and co-narrated – received the 2023 Region 9 Edward R Murrow Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Guidry continues to host MPB's weekly politics show @Issue.

“As someone who spent years in a adjacent to Mississippi Today, it became evident the newsroom was quickly becoming a leader in local, nonprofit news,” Guidry said. “I could not be more to join a publication dedicated to elevating the voices of Mississippians while holding power to account.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Geoff Pender named Mississippi Today politics editor

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Mississippi is pleased to announce Geoff Pender as and Editor.

Pender, who first joined the staff as senior political reporter in May 2020, will oversee the day-to-day reporting of Mississippi Today's politics team.

He brings more than 30 years of experience covering Mississippi politics to the new role.

“If you follow Mississippi politics, you know Geoff Pender,” said Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today's editor-in-chief. “He's been a vital member of our politics team since 2020, and we couldn't be more for him to now lead it. He's been a mentor to so many of our reporters, and he's led several impactful investigations for us. can expect more of that from him in this new job— and if you're wondering, you'll also continue to see plenty of his analysis of the 's biggest stories.”

Geoff Pender

Before joining Mississippi Today, Pender was political and investigative editor at the Clarion Ledger, where he also penned a popular political column. He previously served as an investigative reporter and political editor at the Sun Herald, where he was a member of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team for Hurricane Katrina coverage.

A native of Florence, Pender is a journalism graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and has received numerous awards throughout his career for reporting, columns and of information efforts.

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“I truly appreciate this and appreciate being able to continue working with the great team of journalists at Mississippi Today providing in-depth coverage at such a crucial time for the state,” Pender said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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