fbpx
Connect with us

Mississippi Today

‘I can’t figure it out’: Another hospital leaves the state hospital association. Its leader is flummoxed.

Published

on

On the heels of several major hospitals departing the Mississippi Hospital Association, the organization's leader is baffled.

The hospitals' move comes shortly after the association's political action committee made a $250,000 contribution to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley, an outspoken proponent of Medicaid expansion.

The 's largest public hospital system, the , announced in a letter on April 28 that it was leaving the MHA. Days later, three more hospitals — on the coast, Gulfport's Memorial Hospital and George County Regional in Lucedale — followed suit.

Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg on Monday became the most recent hospital to leave the organization, as first reported by Magnolia Tribune.

The PAC made the donation – the largest it has ever made – in late April, MHA Executive Director Tim Moore said.

Advertisement

Forrest General's termination letter said the departure was fueled by “recent ,” while the other four hospitals cited concerns with MHA leadership.

Moore said donating to Presley's campaign was recommended by the MHA's board of governors, who are administrators of member hospitals elected by MHA members.

“We all have had these discussions for a number of years now that we support candidates that support hospitals, and here is a candidate that is coming very strongly forward with a complete agenda,” Moore said. “It was certainly not just … it was not my decision.”

Presley, a Democrat, is running against incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves in the 2023 statewide elections. While Reeves has been an active opponent of Medicaid expansion, Presley has vowed to expand Medicaid if he's elected governor.

Advertisement

Moore, who's led the MHA for nearly 10 years, suspects the donation was a catalyst. The hospitals' departures have left him in disbelief, he said.

“There's nothing else that has changed. Nothing,” he said in an interview with Mississippi Today last week. “Our strategy has not changed.”

Mississippi hospitals as a whole are struggling amid the pandemic, when labor and operating costs skyrocketed. The struggle is most apparent in the state's rural hospitals — about a third are at risk of closure.

Experts say Medicaid expansion would bring in millions to Mississippi and insure an additional 200,000 to 300,000 . State leaders such as Gov. Tate Reeves, the incumbent candidate, have remained opposed to the policy change, though most Mississippians and lawmakers support it.

Advertisement

“How can anybody blame the hospital association for committing upfront to somebody that has committed to helping hospitals and patients across the state? How can you condemn that?” Moore said. “I can't figure it out.”

Multiple requests for comment to George County Regional Hospital went unanswered. Spokespeople for UMMC, Singing , Forrest and Memorial said that hospital administration had no further comment on their decisions to leave the MHA.

A connection to Reeves is clear for at least one hospital.

Memorial's CEO Kent Nicaud has consistently been one of Reeves' top donors, leading to an appointment to the state gaming commission earlier this year. Reeves also appointed Nicaud's wife, Jenny, as an administrative law judge for the Mississippi Workers Compensation Commission in 2021.

Advertisement

While expansion isn't a silver bullet, experts agree that it would go a long way to increasing the financial viability of Mississippi's struggling hospitals. Moore previously said that the state's hospitals run up about $600 million annually in uncompensated care costs.

Moore said that it's difficult to imagine any hospital CEO in Mississippi as an opponent of Medicaid expansion because of the vast financial benefits.

“It is a good policy, a fair one,” Moore said. “It's good for the state of Mississippi. It's good for the patients. It's good for the providers. It's an economic stimulus. It just goes on and on. And there's just no logical reason not to be trying to move forward.

“While I'm sitting in this seat, I'm nonpartisan. I'm looking for folks that will support our hospitals and providers to take care of patients.”

Advertisement

Michael Beyer, Presley's communications director, said Presley was proud to have earned the support of the MHA and if elected, would work to “end Tate Reeves' hospital crisis.”

“Tate Reeves needs to answer why there is always enough taxpayer money for pet projects for his celebrity friends and personal trainer but never enough to solve his hospital crisis, which has left many rural hospitals across the state scrambling to keep their lights on and 220,000 working Mississippians without healthcare,” Beyer said in a statement.

Shelby Wilcher, Reeves' press secretary, said the Governor's office “does not have any comment on MHA's internal affairs.”

The MHA, a member of the American Hospital Association, represents the interests of Mississippi's hospitals and advocates for care policy change, including Medicaid expansion. They also offer services to member hospitals, like a health information exchange program and educational courses. According to its website, the MHA comprises over 100 hospitals, health care and other providers, as well as over 50,000 employees.

Advertisement

While the PAC operates as a separate organization from the MHA, it answers to the same board. And Moore serves on the board, as well as director of both .

Moore said during the nearly 100 years that the MHA has represented the state's hospitals, hospitals have rotated in and out of the organization, but those departures have not been publicized.

“Hopefully at some point we can reconcile whatever differences these are with members that have become dissatisfied or whatever has been the confusion, because I will say I've been extremely disappointed as to how these were handled,” Moore said.

Whether or not hospitals are members of the MHA, they reap the benefits of the changes the organization advocates for, he said, but it's harder to convince state lawmakers to make policy changes when the hospitals are fractured.

Advertisement

“In a state like Mississippi, with small geography and a relatively small population … if you break them up into segments, you have a much more difficult job in trying to unify the industry and come in one voice,” he said. “If you implement another association … they tend to undermine each other.”

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

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.biloxinewsevents.com/?p=241001

Mississippi Today

Senate confirms Gov. Tate Reeves’ economic development chief despite report of toxic workplace, claims of harassment

Published

on

mississippitoday.org – Geoff Pender – 2024-04-24 18:21:13

The Mississippi Senate on Wednesday unanimously confirmed Bill Cork as Gov. Tate Reeves' pick for a permanent chief economic development officer, despite a background report provided to senators that he “created a toxic workplace” and had faced complaints sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment.

In a hearing before his Senate confirmation, Cork said he did nothing wrong, has a winning economic development record, has overhauled MDA.

“… If that takes a little hostility to get that done, that's what's going to happen,” Cork said in the hearing on Tuesday.

Advertisement

Cork is now the first permanent director of the 's economic development agency since 2021, when former agency director John Rounsaville resigned after sexual misconduct allegations.

Cork is credited with recently helping the state land record-setting large economic developments, including Amazon Web Services' commitment to spend $10 billion to construct two “hyperscale data centers” in Madison County.

A background report provided to the Senate Finance Committee before members voted to confirm him said that Cork, who has worked at MDA since September of 2020, was investigated by the Mississippi Personnel Board in 2021. The investigation followed a claim against Cork of sexual harassment, age discrimination and creating a hostile work environment while he was serving as chief economic development officer at MDA.

The personnel board said it conducted the investigation at Gov. Reeves' request. It submitted a report to Reeves after the investigation that said Cork had been uncooperative with the investigation, and that while no legal violations were found, “Cork's management style has created a toxic workplace.” Personnel recommended Cork receive a written reprimand and that he complete at least 12 hours of training on workforce harassment, which he completed.

Advertisement

Cork was traveling Thursday, his office said, and could not be reached for comment. In a Senate Finance confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Cork addressed the report after Sen. Bradford Blackmon asked about it.

Cork said he helped lead “reorganizing and reforming” MDA, resulting in two-thirds of the management and international teams leaving the agency, and “we had a small cadre of employees that didn't like what was happening.”

“At the end of the day, the state Personnel Board found I hadn't done anything illegal, but that I was a tough boss,” Cork said. “Some people find that level of tough and directedness to be a little hostile. None of it was directed at anyone, but when you're to put together a winning team, you just don't settle for second-place.

“… I don't apologize for anything I've done because I didn't do anything wrong,” Cork said. “I didn't cooperate with the investigation because I didn't do anything wrong, and that's exactly what that investigation found.”

Advertisement

State Personnel Director Hardwick said: “Regretfully, (Cork) didn't cooperate with the investigation, which might have changed our determination. Because he didn't, we were left with only the testimony of the accusations.”

Hardwick declined to provide details of the allegations against Cork, and his office would not release its report to Mississippi Today, citing public exemptions for personnel records.

Hardwick said Cork did successfully complete the state workplace harassment training and implemented some of the practices recommended in the training.

“He's been shown to be successful and there have been no other complaints on him since,” Hardwick said. “From our standpoint he successfully did what we recommended to the governor.”

Advertisement

Both the Senate Finance Committee and full Senate voted unanimously for Cork's confirmation.

Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins noted the report said personnel board found no legal violations, and that Cork openly addressed the allegations in committee. He said he received recommendation letters for Cork from across the state and country and, “It's hard to argue with the product MDA has put out in the last few months.”

A spokesman for Reeves praised Cork, said the “old” personnel complaint is not credible and criticized Mississippi Today.

“Bill Cork has gotten better results for the people of Mississippi than almost any other employee of state government in decades,” Reeves Deputy Chief of Staff Cory Custer said in a statement. “… (Cork) opted to make the results of the investigation known, addressed it in detail in his confirmation hearing yesterday, and was then unanimously confirmed. It would not be a surprise to see a biased article that hypes up discredited nonsense, but it would be a disservice to a great, hard-working man.”

Advertisement

Cork has previously served as deputy director and chief economic development officer at MDA. He formerly led the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission and before that was the CEO of an industrial complex in New Boston, . He is a Marine Corps veteran and received a master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Reeves on Aug. 13, 2021, announced Cork's predecessor, Rounsaville, would be “stepping down” at the end of that month as MDA director to spend more time with his and less time traveling. Reeves thanked him for his service and wished him well.

But Mississippi Today reported that sexual misconduct allegations had led to Rounsaville's resignation, and that Reeves had in July received a personnel investigation report and recommendation Rounsaville be fired. After that report, Reeves said Rounsaville had been put on administrative leave and from day-to-day operations at MDA and that his resignation had been tendered Aug. 13 after an investigation into his conduct.

An allegedly intoxicated Rounsaville allegedly made sexual advances toward three subordinate female MDA employees at a bar in while attending a business conference.

Advertisement

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

Continue Reading

Mississippi Today

Her grandfather helped bring Medicaid to Mississippi 55 years ago. Today, she’s pushing for expansion.

Published

on

mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-04-24 15:35:09

Supporters of expansion would argue that it is wholly appropriate that Leah Hendrix has recently been a speaker in rallies at the state Capitol in favor of providing care coverage for primarily working poor .

No doubt, her activism brings symmetry.

Hendrix, a mother of four and the wife of a physician, is the granddaughter of Alton Cobb, the state's former longtime state health officer who played a pivotal role in Mississippi opting into the original Medicaid program 55 years ago.

Advertisement

In more recent times, her father, Tim Alford, a Kosciusko physician, was beating the drums in favor of Medicaid expansion longer than almost any other Mississippi health care provider.

“He said he was leaving that to me because no one had listened to him,” she joked in an interview with Mississippi Today this week after one of the Capitol rallies.

Medicaid expansion has become the major focus of a contentious 2024 legislative session, with hundreds of Mississippians, top state business leadershealth officials and even religious leaders publicly advocating at the Capitol for full Medicaid expansion that stands to significantly the poorest, unhealthiest state in the nation.

For the first time, state lawmakers are earnestly debating expansion. Hendrix has been on the front lines of the fight to get it across the finish line.

Advertisement

“It seems we have been talking about this for more than 13 years,” she said, referring to the fact that the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 with the provision allowing Medicaid expansion to cover those earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level or about $20,000 annually for an individual. “But it really has been going on much longer than that. When did Al work on that?”

READ MORETop Mississippi business leaders endorse full Medicaid expansion


The story of Alton Cobb and Mississippi's reluctant decision to opt into Medicaid in 1969 is one of an unlikely alliance and political courage by a governor who eschewed his political philosophy to do what he believed was right for the people of Mississippi.

That governor was John Bell Williams. And Cobb, an employee at the state Department of Health who was initially reluctant to take a key position on Williams' staff, helped the governor reach that decision.

Advertisement

“I didn't vote for him,” Cobb told Mississippi Today in 2019, recalling when he was approached to work for Williams. “I think he probably knew that.”

But former U.S. Rep. David Bowen, who had joined Williams' staff, was a friend of Cobb and convinced him of the potential of Williams' health advisory board.

“I wanted to be part of that,” Cobb said.

READ MORE: Is history repeating itself on Medicaid expansion in Mississippi?

Advertisement

The panel held hearings across the state, listening to health care providers and others. Cobb said Williams attended the meetings, though he seldom spoke. He primarily listened.

At the end of the process, Williams informed his staff he was calling a special session to take up the issue of opting into the Medicaid program. That special session lasted from July 22, 1969, until Oct. 10. In the midst of the long and extraordinary session, Hurricane Camille ravaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

But by the end, Mississippi opted into the Medicaid program as most other states had already done.

The Williams-backed move was a shock to many political observers. As a U.S. House member prior to being elected governor, Williams had voted against the legislation to create the Medicaid program and had campaigned for governor railing against the excesses of the federal .

Advertisement

But in a joint session of the Legislature on the first day of the special session, he told members, “In fairness, I must point out that my philosophical reasons for resisting the program as a member of the United States Congress is neither relevant nor applicable to the present issue before us. The program is a reality. It is available to our state and now devolves wholly into a question of whether you, in your wisdom, should determine our participation will be in the best interests of our state and people.”


Back in 1969, Williams' argument for opting into the original Medicaid program sounded much like the one made today for Medicaid expansion. He said the program would provide health care for a segment of the population that needed it, it would help the state's health care providers, and it would benefit the whole state by pumping more funds into the economy.

“Al used to love to tell about becoming John Bell Williams' chief ambassador for starting Medicaid in Mississippi,” Hendrix said. “… After several meetings, a light came on for Williams.

“… Two opposites politically flew around the state (on the state plane) selling Medicaid,” Hendrix continued. “Al did not like to fly.”

Advertisement

But she added it was “a good example of a politician who did a 180 because it just made economic sense.”

Hendrix said her grandfather, who died in 2021, wanted his support for Medicaid expansion to be included in his obituary.

Hendrix is hopeful that current Mississippi politicians will do as Williams did back in 1969 and set aside their previous political beliefs and do what is right for the people of Mississippi.

“Despite the stereotypes, Medicaid does so much good,” she said. “This is the insurance that helps who have no other choice. Where are the Beatitudes when our neighbors need them? I will never understand why Mississippi politicians of late have decided we should not expand — turning down millions of federal dollars our state so desperately needs because of while we're all still paying into a system that's funding states that did expand.”

Advertisement

Perhaps today's politicians need someone like Alton Cobb to help them reach that decision. Maybe that person is already part of the debate and is advocating for it at the Capitol every day — if only those Mississippi politicians would do like John Bell Williams did in 1969 and listen.

READ MORE: Medicaid expansion negotiators still far apart after first public meeting

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

Continue Reading

Mississippi Today

Jackson officials settle lawsuit over George Robinson’s death

Published

on

mississippitoday.org – Mina Corpuz – 2024-04-24 13:48:38

The of a Jackson man who died in 2019 days after an interaction with will nearly $18,000 in a wrongful settlement. 

That $17,786.25 settlement, according to city council documents, “does not constitute an admission of liability” by the city of Jackson and the three former Jackson police officers who the family say pulled 62-year-old George Robinson from his car and beat him in the Washington Addition neighborhood. 

Robinson died days later on Jan. 15, 2019, and the medical examiners said his death was a homicide from three blunt head injuries. 

Advertisement

One of the officers, former detective Anthony Fox, was convicted of culpable-negligence manslaughter in 2022, receiving a 20-year sentence with 15 years suspended. Charges against the other two officers, Desmond Barney and Lincoln Lampley, were dismissed in 2021. 

Fox's conviction stood for about two years, until January when the Mississippi Court of Appeals reversed the conviction and issued an acquittal. In a majority opinion, the judges agreed the evidence was insufficient for the verdict and that Robinson's medical history made it difficult to tell whether his injuries from Fox was the sole contributor to his death. 

The district attorney did not challenging the conviction, while Lynn Fitch asked for it to be reversed. 

Fox left prison in February and went back to work for the Clinton Police Department, where he was employed up until his conviction after leaving the Jackson Police Department.
Bettersen Wade, Robinson's sister who was a plaintiff in the wrongful death lawsuit, is also the mother of 37-year-old Dexter Wade, the Jackson man who died last year and was buried in the Hinds County pauper's grave, despite having identification and his family calling the coroner's office and Jackson police.

Advertisement

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

Continue Reading

News from the South

Trending