Mississippi Today
‘What’s your plan, watch Rome burn?’: Politicians continue to reject solution to growing hospital crisis
‘What’s your plan, watch Rome burn?’: Politicians continue to reject solution to growing hospital crisis
Note: This article is part of Mississippi Today’s ongoing Mississippi Health Care Crisis project.Read more about the project by clicking here.
Mississippi's only burn center has closed. The Delta's only neonatal intensive care unit has closed. A Jackson hospital that serves vulnerable populations is gutting key services to balance its budget. One of the state's largest hospitals is months, if not weeks, from shutting its doors for good.
Mississippi hospitals are in crisis, struggling to keep up with rising industry costs and cover care for the sixth-most uninsured population in America. Six hospitals have closed across the state since 2005, and countless more have reduced services and staff.
Even more sobering, the state's top health care leaders warn that a dozen more hospitals across the state are in imminent danger of closing.
“Things are getting worse, not better,” Dr. Dan Edney, the state’s health officer, said in an October Board of Health meeting. “We know of 10-12 hospitals statewide that may not even be here one year from now … Those of us who are watching this in health care leadership statewide have a lot of concern.”
As the Mississippi health care crisis worsens, the state's political leaders are facing growing pressure from health care professionals to do something they've refused for 12 years: expand Medicaid. Doing so, as 38 states have done, would provide immediate financial relief to the state's hospitals that are struggling to stay alive, countless economic and health care experts have said.
About 12% of Mississippians are uninsured, leaving hospitals with little to no way to recoup the costs of care administered to some of the nation’s poorest and unhealthiest patients. Hospitals are required to provide life-saving care to everyone, regardless of whether they’re insured. In many cases, those costs are bringing hospitals — including Greenwood Leflore Hospital in the Mississippi Delta — to the brink of closing.
Studies, including one from the state economist, have shown Medicaid expansion would provide health care coverage for at least 200,000 primarily working Mississippians who don’t currently have it. More than $1 billion per year would flow to the state after expansion, and hospitals would directly receive hundreds of millions to cover rising costs. The study also showed Medicaid expansion would create more than 11,000 jobs per year from 2022 to 2027.
READ MORE: Mississippi leaving more than $1 billion per year on table by rejecting Medicaid expansion
"When you have major hospital systems in this state that have lost a quarter billion dollars last year, hospitals that have never had losses having them now and others budgeting for major losses for next year — the number of hospitals close to the brink is the most it's ever been,” said Tim Moore, president of the Mississippi Hospital Association, an organization that has for years lobbied for Medicaid expansion.
But Gov. Tate Reeves, Speaker of the House Philip Gunn and several powerful political brokers in Jackson have stood firm against even the suggestion of expansion, ignoring the dozens of economic experts who say the state can afford it and that hospitals would be much better off.
“No, I don't support expanding Medicaid in Mississippi,” Reeves told a Mississippi Today reporter last week during a hospital event in Ocean Springs. “I made, very clear, my position when I was running for governor in 2019. What we've got to do in Mississippi is we've got to continue to focus on economic development, job creation, bringing better and higher paying jobs to our state.”
The health care landscape in Mississippi — and nationwide — has changed dramatically since Reeves first made that campaign promise. The stresses of the pandemic widened the cracks in already struggling hospital systems. Labor and supplies costs have surged, making even traditionally profitable hospitals reassess their budgets and services.
Reeves recently pushed legislation giving $246 million in state-funded incentives to a steel mill promising 1,000 new jobs in 10 years. It is private sector jobs, Reeves said, that will most benefit the state’s health care.
“People who work in the private sector that have private insurance have typically far better coverage,” he said.
But the state’s leaders have repeated that refrain for many years, and little has budged with either job creation or health care outcomes. Meanwhile, hospitals across the state are scrambling to make up for lost revenue.
READ MORE: Who’s opposed to Mississippi Medicaid expansion and why?
One of the state’s largest hospitals, North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, is having to manage higher operating costs while caring for uninsured patients. State Sen. Chad McMahan, a Republican who represents the hospital and surrounding area, stops short of advocating for Medicaid expansion. But unlike many of his GOP colleagues in the Legislature, he wants to debate its merits.
The main reason he’s publicly bucked his party leaders, McMahan says: His local hospital would benefit.
“I’ll tell you how large the hospital is,” McMahan told Mississippi Today. “The hospital is so large that if it were to close, we’d have to have seven Toyota-sized manufacturing plants to replace the economic value and salaries (of the hospital), which means it would never happen in our lifetime. Values of homes would drop 15% overnight. You better believe I’m for health care. I’m for health care because it's the right thing to do for Mississippians … It’ll sustain our communities, cities and counties.”
Gulfport Memorial Hospital, another major institution whose CEO is a major political donor to Reeves, reported operating costs going up nearly 18% in 2021. They hit operating losses just shy of $67 million for the last fiscal year.
To Gulfport’s east, the Singing River Health System’s CEO is searching for a larger system to buy its publicly-owned Gulf Coast hospitals. The system is not in dire financial straits, but leadership says they’re trying to be proactive before they hit a crisis point.
In his recent announcement of the tax incentives for the steel mill, Reeves did not mention the 600-plus current jobs that are in jeopardy at Greenwood Leflore Hospital. But the major hospital in the Delta could close imminently, leaders warn. They hoped to strike a deal with the state’s only academic hospital – Jackson’s University of Mississippi Medical Center – but those plans dissolved at the beginning of the month.
Greenwood Leflore leaders are trying to stretch their budget to stay open over the next two months with hopes the Mississippi Legislature will step in to save it. Greenwood Leflore interim CEO Gary Marchand has publicly advocated for Medicaid expansion, saying it would go a long way in helping balance the hospital’s budget.
“What’s your plan: To watch Rome burn and to let hospitals close?” said Dr. Gary Wiltz, a Medicaid advocate and the CEO of a system of 19 of rural health clinics in Louisiana. “It goes back to a fundamental question: is health care a right or a privilege?”
Q&A: What is Medicaid expansion, really?
Pioneer Community Hospital of Newton on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. The hospital closed in December 2015.
Merit Health Central, a private hospital in Jackson, has moved or is planning to move its cardiovascular services, neonatal intensive care unit and endoscopy to other locations outside of the city. It already closed its burn center – the only in the state to provide specialized care.
Merit Health Central, formerly Hinds General Hospital, has long been a health care and employment hub in south and west Jackson. Merit Health pointed to “the state’s decision to not expand Medicaid” in addition to labor costs and staffing challenges as to why it is scaling back its operations in a statement to Mississippi Today.
Even Mississippi hospitals that may not be in imminent danger of closing are still facing uncovered costs that are beginning to bleed their budgets dry. Masks, surgical supplies, even food and human resource services have all shot up cost – and that’s on top of the charity treatment hospitals incur costs of for patients too poor to pay for care.
Stan Bulger, who serves on the board of directors at Magee General Hospital, said expanding Medicaid would help to offset revenue losses his hospital incurs for uncompensated care.
"We're losing out on about 15% of the revenue we could collect every month," Bulger said. "We're constantly trying to find ways to make that work, but if you think about it, no business can operate long-term with that much loss. Expanding Medicaid would significantly help us cover that hole, and it could legitimately keep us alive."
UMMC, the state’s only academic hospital, had a $7 million loss in its first fiscal quarter – a loss they predicted as they battled rising nursing costs. The hospital system spent $22 million on staffing temporary nurses to fill gaps. These nurses make about two-and-half times the salaries of those nurses actually employed by the hospital.
Singing River has about 200 positions open. That’s staffing they, too, have to fill with pricier contracted labor. Singing River CEO Tiffany Murdock said she supports Medicaid expansion – and that she agrees any revenue would help hospitals fill gaps.
“If they’re just coming into our hospital with those acute care problems, they are a high dollar,” said Murdock. “With (Medicaid expansion) we’d get reimbursement for that expense that right now…we’re not.”
Increased health care coverage would also likely lead to better patient outcomes. Typically patients without health care go without a primary care doctor, their health problems getting worse – and more expensive – than if they had access to intervening medical care.
Kilmichael Hospital in Kilmichael on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. The hospital closed in January 2015.
Wiltz, the Louisiana doctor and CEO of Teche Action Clinic, saw how health care in Louisiana transformed under Medicaid expansion: diabetes patients who risked limb loss with their disease now under control and people with cancerous polyps removed during colonoscopies they would have likely never had without coverage.
As of October of this year, 750,340 people in Louisiana have enrolled in Medicaid expansion. Since 2017, the state health department reported that 84,651 people received colonoscopies that likely wouldn’t have before expansion. Of that, close to 26,000 got polyps removed that could help prevent colon cancer. Another 131,680 got breast cancer screenings.
Wiltz has an easier time balancing his system’s books to secure their future serving rural residents because of the reliable reimbursements form his patients.
“Thank God Louisiana and our governor had enough integrity and compassion to expand Medicaid,” he said. “I really hope that other states – particularly Mississippi – that sees a similar population as we do would come to that same conclusion.”
But in Mississippi, as health care leaders continue to hope Medicaid expansion could soon get a fair debate at the Capitol, they’re having to live with the financial consequences of politics.
“I've been involved in health care in Mississippi since the early 1970s, and this is the worst, by far, of that span in my 50-year career in medicine in this state — both in terms of stability of hospitals, of having enough nurses and doctors and therapists and specialists to staff our hospitals, and in terms of patients having access to care because they're uninsured,” said Dr. Dan Jones, former chief executive of the University of Mississippi Medical Center who has since become the American Heart Association's national volunteer lead for healthcare expansion.
“People dying and hospitals closing are a real consequence of our failure to take advantage of expanding Medicaid.”
Mississippi Today’s Kate Royals, Geoff Pender and Adam Ganucheau contributed to this report.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
The University of Mississippi Medical Center has acquired Canton-based Merit Health Madison and is preparing to move a pediatric clinic to Madison, continuing a trend of moving services to Jackson’s suburbs.
The 67-bed hospital, now called UMMC Madison, will provide a wide range of community hospital services, including emergency services, medical-surgical care, intensive care, cardiology, neurology, general surgery and radiology services. It also will serve as a training site for medical students, and it plans to offer OB-GYN care in the future.
“As Mississippi’s only academic medical center, we must continue to be focused on our three-part mission to educate the next generation of health care providers, conduct impactful research and deliver accessible high-quality health care,” Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC’s vice chancellor of health affairs, said in a statement. “Every decision we make is rooted in our mission.”
The new facility will help address space constraints at the medical center’s main campus in Jackson by freeing up hospital beds, imaging services and operating areas, said Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for health affairs.
UMMC physicians have performed surgeries and other procedures at the hospital in Madison since 2019. UMMC became the full owner of the hospital May 1 after purchasing it from Franklin, Tennessee-based Community Health Systems.
The Batson Kids Clinic, which offers pediatric primary care, will move to the former Mississippi Center for Advanced Medicine location in Madison. This space will allow the medical center to offer pediatric primary care and specialty services and resolve space issues that prevent the clinic from adding new providers, according to Institutions of Higher Learning board minutes.
A UMMC spokesperson did not respond to questions about the services that will be offered at the clinic or when it will begin accepting patients.
The Mississippi Center for Advanced Medicine, a pediatric subspecialty clinic, closed last year as a result of a settlement in a seven-year legal battle between the clinic and UMMC in a federal trade secrets lawsuit.
The changes come after the opening of UMMC’s Colony Park South clinic in Ridgeland in February. The clinic offers a range of specialty outpatient services, including surgical services. Another Ridgeland UMMC clinic, Colony Park North, will open in 2026.
The expansion of UMMC clinical services to Madison County has been criticized by state lawmakers and Jackson city leaders. The medical center does not need state approval to open new educational facilities. Critics say UMMC has used this exemption to locate facilities in wealthier, whiter neighborhoods outside Jackson while reducing services in the city.
UMMC did not respond to a request for comment about its movement of services to Madison County.
UMMC began removing clinical services this year from Jackson Medical Mall, which is in a majority-Black neighborhood with a high poverty rate. The medical center plans to reduce its square footage at the mall by about 75% in the next year.
The movement of health care services from Jackson to the suburbs is a “very troubling trend” that will make it more difficult for Jackson residents to access care, Democratic state Sen. John Horhn, who will become Jackson’s mayor July 1, previously told Mississippi Today.
Lawmakers sought to rein in UMMC’s expansion outside Jackson this year by passing a bill that would require the medical center to receive state approval before opening new educational medical facilities in areas other than the vicinity of its main campus and Jackson Medical Mall. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed the legislation, saying he opposed an unrelated provision in the bill.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post UMMC hospital madison county appeared first on mississippitoday.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
The article presents a primarily factual report on UMMC’s expansion into Madison County, outlining the medical center’s services and strategic decisions while including critiques from Democratic leaders and local officials about the suburban shift. The inclusion of concerns over equity and access—highlighting that the expansion is occurring in wealthier, whiter suburbs at the expense of services in majority-Black, poorer neighborhoods—leans the piece toward a center-left perspective, emphasizing social justice and community impact. However, the article maintains a measured tone by presenting statements from UMMC representatives and government officials without overt editorializing, thus keeping the overall coverage grounded in balanced reporting with a slight progressive framing.
Nationally known comedian Rita Brent will host the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Institute’s “Medgar at 100” Concert on June 28.
Tickets go on sale Saturday, June 14, and can be ordered on the institute’s website.
The concert will take place at the Jackson Convention Complex and is the capstone event of the “Medgar at 100” Celebration. Organizers are calling the event “a cultural tribute and concert honoring the enduring legacy of Medgar Wiley Evers.”
“My father believed in the power of people coming together — not just in protest, but in joy and purpose, and my mother and father loved music,” said Reena Evers-Everette, executive director of the institute. “This evening is about honoring his legacy with soul, celebration, and a shared commitment to carry his work forward. Through music and unity, we are creating space for remembrance, resilience, and the rising voices of a new generation.”
In addition to Brent, other featured performers include: actress, comedian and singer Tisha Campbell; soul R&B powerhouse Leela James; and Grammy award-winning artist, actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Q Parker and Friends.
Organizers said the concert is also “a call to action — a gathering rooted in remembrance, resistance, and renewal.”
Proceeds from the event will go to support the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Institute’s mission to “advance civic engagement, develop youth leadership, and continue the fight for justice in Mississippi and beyond.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post Rita Brent, Q Parker headline 'Medgar at 100' Concert appeared first on mississippitoday.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article presents a straightforward, factual report on the upcoming “Medgar at 100” concert honoring civil rights leader Medgar Wiley Evers. The tone is respectful and celebratory, focusing on the event’s cultural and community significance without expressing a political stance or ideological bias. It quotes organizers and highlights performers while emphasizing themes of remembrance, unity, and justice. The coverage remains neutral by reporting the event details and mission of the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Institute without editorializing or promoting a specific political viewpoint. Overall, it maintains balanced and informative reporting.
Residents at Chapel Ridge Apartments in Jackson are left wondering what to do next after months dealing with trash pileups, property theft and the possibility of water shutoffs due to the property owner skipping out on the bill.
On Sunday, Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley, city attorney Drew Martin and code enforcement officers discussed next steps for the complex, which, since April 30, has been without a property manager.
“How are you all cracking down on other possible fraudulent property managers around Jackson?” one woman asked Martin.
“ We don’t know they’re there until we know they’re there, and I know that’s a terrible answer, but I don’t personally have another one I’m aware of right now,” Martin said. “These individuals don’t seem to have owned another apartment complex in the Metro Jackson area, despite owning a whole bunch nationwide.”
Back in April, a letter was left on the door of the leasing office advising residents to not make rental payments until a new property manager arrives. The previous property managers are Lynd Management Group, a company based in San Antonio, Texas.
The complex has been under increased scrutiny after Chapel Ridge Apartments lost its solid waste contract mid-March due to months of nonpayment. The removal of dumpsters led to a portion of the parking lot turning into a dumping site, an influx of rodents and gnats, and an investigation by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. Local leaders pitched in to help remedy the situation, and in May, Waste Management provided two dumpsters for the complex.
However, the problems persisted. In May, JXN Water released the names of 15 apartment complexes that owe more than $100,000 in unpaid water fees. Chapel Ridge was on the list. JXN Water spokesperson Aisha Carson said via email that they are “pursuing legal options to address these large-scale delinquencies across several properties.”
“While no shutoffs are imminent at this time, we are evaluating each case based on legal feasibility and the need to balance enforcement with tenant protections. Our focus is on transparency and accountability, not disruption—but we will act when needed to ensure the integrity of the system,” Carson said.
And earlier this week, Chapel Ridge Apartments was declared a public nuisance. Martin said this gives the city of Jackson “the authority to come in, mow the grass and board up any of the units where people aren’t living.”
Martin said the situation is complicated, because the complex is owned by Chapel Ridge Apartments LLC. The limited liability corporation is owned by CRBM Realty Inc. and Crown Capital Holdings LLC, which are ultimately owned by Moshe “Mark” Silber. In April, Silber was sentenced to 30 months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution. Earlier this month, both companies filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey.
Now, Martin said the main goal is to find someone who can manage the property.
“Somebody’s got to be able to collect rent from you,” Martin said. “They got to be able to pay the water. They got to be able to pay the garbage. They got to be able to pay for the lights to be on. They got to maintain the property, so that’s our goal is to put that in place.”
Chapel Ridge offers a rent scale based on household income. Those earning under 50% of the area median income — between $21,800 and $36,150 depending on household size — for example, pay $480 for a two-bedroom and $539 for a three-bedroom unit. Rent increases between $20 and $40 for those earning under 60% of the area median income.
Valarie Banks said that when she moved into Chapel Ridge nearly 13 years ago, it was a great community. The disabled mother and grandmother moved from West Jackson to the complex because it was neatly kept and quiet.
“It was beautiful. I saw a lot of kids out playing. There were people that were engaging you when you came out. They were eager to help,” Banks said. “ I hope that they could bring this place back to the way it once was.”
But after months of uncertainty, Banks is preparing to move. She said she’s not the only one.
“I have somewhere to go, but I’m just trying to get my money together so I can be able to handle the deposits and the bills that come after you move,” she said. “All of my doctors are around here close to me. In 12 years, I made this place home for me. … I’ve been stacking my rent, but it’s still not enough if I want to move this month.”
While she said she’s holding onto her rent payments for the time being, she realizes that many of her fellow residents may not be as lucky. Without someone to maintain the apartments, some residents are finding themselves without basic amenities.
“Some people are in dire straits, because they don’t have a stove or a fridge or the air conditioner,” she said. “Their stove went out, or the fridge went out, or they stole the air conditioner while you’re in the apartment.”
Banks isn’t the only one who is formulating a plan to leave. One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she’s been trying to save money to move, but she already has $354 wrapped up in a money order that she’s unable to pass off for her rent, due to the property manager’s recent departure.
“It really feels like an abandonment and just stressful to live where I’m living at right now. This just doesn’t happen. It just feels stressful. It doesn’t feel good at all,” she said.
She’s trying to remain optimistic, but as each day passes without someone to maintain the property, she’s losing hope.
“ I just hope that things get better some day, somehow, hopefully, because if not, more than likely I’m going to have to leave because I can only take so much,” she said. “I can’t continue to deal with this situation of hoping and wishing somebody comes, and they don’t.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post Future uncertain for residents of abandoned south Jackson apartment complex appeared first on mississippitoday.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This article from *Mississippi Today* primarily focuses on the struggles of low-income residents at Chapel Ridge Apartments, emphasizing the human impact of property mismanagement, regulatory gaps, and systemic neglect. The piece maintains a factual tone, but it centers the voices of vulnerable tenants and local officials seeking accountability—hallmarks of a center-left perspective. While it does not overtly advocate for policy change, the narrative framing highlights social injustice and institutional failures, subtly aligning with progressive concerns about housing equity and corporate responsibility.
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