Mississippi Today
Private equity-backed Texas company seeks to reopen behavioral health beds in Jackson
A private, for-profit Texas-based organization is seeking to reopen St. Dominic Memorial Hospital's behavioral health beds in Jackson, according to state Health Department records.
Oceans Healthcare has applied to lease St. Dominic's recently closed behavioral health beds and open its own separately licensed psychiatric hospital in Jackson. Oceans submitted its application in late October.
In the weeks following St. Dominic's decision to shutter its 83-bed behavioral health unit in June, advocates worried that people seeking mental health care would end up in jails or without help. Shortly after the closure, two hospitals reported having full beds and were unable to accept any more psychiatric patients.
Meredith Bailess, senior director of marketing and communications at St. Dominic, referred all questions to Oceans. Oceans officials declined to answer any questions for this story.
However, a records request revealed that the company has applied to reopen 77 inpatient adult psychiatric beds, with the remaining six licensed but unused. The organization's application to the state Health Department says that the hospital is prepared to provide the same services to the community that were previously provided by St. Dominic.
The firm's application also includes a letter of support signed by Rep. Chris Bell and Rep. Earle Banks, two Hinds County lawmakers, as well as letters of support from St. Dominic executives, including Interim Market President Kristin Wolkart.
“It is no secret that Mississippi is facing a mental health crisis due to a lack of resources,” the representatives' letter reads. “By approving this project, the Department of Health will enable those in my community and all central Mississippi families in crisis to obtain desperately needed healthcare closer to home.”
Eileen O'Grady with the Private Equity Stakeholder Project researches the impacts of the growing trend of private equity firms investing in health care facilities. O'Grady said while it's generally a good thing that more behavioral health beds could open in Jackson, she is wary of any private-equity owned organization getting involved in behavioral health care.
Massachusetts-based private equity firm Webster Equity Partners bought Oceans Healthcare in 2022. Webster Equity was founded in 2003 and is active in the health care industry. The organization's website says it targets “companies with high-impact growth strategies that deliver the highest quality care.”
As of June, the total market value of investments managed by Webster was $7.4 billion, according to the firm's website.
Private equity firms have shown growing interest in the behavioral health industry in recent years, according to a report authored by O'Grady. But because private equity firms are focused on turning a profit, patients often suffer as a result, her report concluded.
“When I think about what they do and what the business model is, I think it can be boiled down to basically one thing: Generate the highest return possible over four to seven years,” she said. “Usually that means trying to double or triple their investment over a couple of years … That is a really short period of time to make that kind of money.”
In order to turn that kind of profit, the firms have to make big cuts. That's especially risky for behavioral health facilities, where vulnerable people expect to receive treatment. Instead, some private equity firms have hired untrained or unlicensed staff, have failed to hire enough staff or have neglected upkeep of facilities, according to O'Grady.
Laying people off and failing to pay adequate wages can lead to persistent understaffing, which can lead to hiring people with low levels of training, O'Grady said. At behavioral health facilities, this can create dangerous situations.
She said there are some situations where firms can provide the financial backing needed to improve facilities.
But she acknowledged that's not usually the case. If the goal is making a huge profit quickly “in an industry where margins are already very thin, it is not improbable that some combination of those things can happen.”
“Generally speaking, what we've seen, especially in the behavioral health space, is alarming,” O'Grady said. “It is probably not a private equity firm's fault that these hospitals closed, and it is good that they're reopening, but I don't think that private equity firms are the right companies to be managing behavioral health hospitals, and if they do, then there needs to be a lot of guardrails to ensure that these facilities are not just used to sort of line the pockets of rich people.”
Oceans has been increasing its presence in Mississippi. The first Oceans hospital in the state opened in Biloxi in 2019, and its second facility opened in Tupelo at the beginning of this year. Oceans' facilities provide adult inpatient and outpatient mental health services, according to its website.
Oceans' application says the hospital will provide Jackson and surrounding communities with multidisciplinary psychiatric treatment for depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia and various other mental disorders. The application estimates that renovation of the unit will be completed at the end of March.
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=307884
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1896
MAY 18, 1896
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-1 in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation on railroads or similar public places was constitutional, forging the “separate but equal” doctrine that remained in place until 1954.
In his dissent that would foreshadow the ruling six decades later in Brown v. Board of Education, Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote that “separate but equal” rail cars were aimed at discriminating against Black Americans.
“In the view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens,” he wrote. “Our Constitution in color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The law … takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved.”
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=359301
Mississippi Today
Renada Stovall, chemist and entrepreneur
Renada Stovall sat on the back deck of her rural Arkansas home one evening, contemplating life when she had a life-altering epiphany…
“I gotta get out of these woods.”
She heard it as clear as lips to her ear and as deep as the trees surrounding her property. Stovall's job as a chemist had taken her all over the country. In addition to Arkansas, there were stints in Atlanta, Dallas and Reno. But she was missing home, her parents and friends. She also knew, she needed something else to do.
“I thought, what kind of business can I start for myself,” said Stovall, as she watered herbs growing in a garden behind her south Jackson home. Some of those herbs are used in her all-natural products. “I know when I lived in Reno, Nevada, where it's very hot and very dry, there really weren't products available that worked for me, my hair, and my skin suffered. I've got a chemistry degree from Spelman College. I took the plunge and decided to create products for myself.”
In 2018, Stovall's venture led to the creation of shea butter moisturizers and natural soaps. But she didn't stop there, and in December 2022, she moved home to Mississippi and got to work, expanding her product line to include body balms and butters, and shampoos infused with avocado and palm, mango butter, coconut and olive oils.
Nadabutter, which incorporates Renada's name, came to fruition.
Stovall sells her balms and moisturizers at what she calls, “pop-up markets,” across the state during the summer. She's available via social media and also creates products depending on what of her ingredients a customer chooses. “My turmeric and honey is really popular,” Stovall added.
“The all-natural ingredients I use are great for conditioning the skin and hair. All of my products make you feel soft and luscious. The shea butter I use comes from West Africa. It's my way of networking and supporting other women. And it's my wish that other women can be inspired to be self-sufficient in starting their own businesses.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1954
MAY 17, 1954
In Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal treatment under the law.
The historic decision brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, ruling in the case of student Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.
In Mississippi, segregationist leaders called the day “Black Monday” and took up the charge of the just-created white Citizens' Council to preserve racial segregation at all costs.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
-
SuperTalk FM6 days ago
Martin Lawrence making 3 stops in Mississippi on comedy tour
-
Our Mississippi Home5 days ago
Beat the Heat with Mississippi’s Best Waterparks
-
SuperTalk FM2 days ago
State auditor cracking down on Mississippians receiving unemployment benefits
-
Our Mississippi Home6 days ago
Charlie’s U-Pik: Opening Soon for the Summer Season
-
Mississippi News Video4 days ago
Jackson has a gang problem
-
Kaiser Health News5 days ago
Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Decried as Biased Against Disabled People
-
Local News1 day ago
Family files lawsuit after teen’s suicide in Harrison County Jail
-
Mississippi Today3 days ago
On this day in 1950