Q&A with midwife Janice Scaggs
When Janice Scaggs joined the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 2020, she became part of a growing effort by the state’s largest public hospital and academic medical center to reintroduce midwifery into Mississippi’s maternal health care. Certified nurse-midwives like Scaggs are educated in graduate-level midwifery programs and also hold an active registered nurse credential […]
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 […]
Mississippi sees season’s first pediatric flu death
Officials from the Mississippi State Department of Health reported the state’s first pediatric flu death of the 2023-2024 flu season on Wednesday. Pediatric deaths are deaths occurring in individuals under the age of 18. There have been a total of 25 pediatric flu deaths, including this one, in the state since pediatric flu deaths were […]
The state’s troubled hospital grant program has finally awarded money to eight facilities. Many more are waiting.
Eight of 80 Mississippi hospitals that applied for money through the state’s new hospital grant program have finally received those funds after months of waiting. However, Mississippi State Health Department officials say the program’s kinks are still being ironed out. Gov. Tate Reeves signed the Mississippi Hospital Sustainability Grant program, which allotted state hospitals a […]
Medicaid continues removing thousands from rolls
Another 8,674 Mississippians lost their Medicaid coverage in the agency’s latest round of disenrollments in October. Since unwinding disenrollments began in June, Mississippi Medicaid has removed more than 90,000 people from its rolls. State Medicaid divisions started reviewing their rolls for the first time in three years this spring, when federal regulations that prevented them […]
Q&A: Planned Parenthood State Director Tyler Harden talks about the work of pro-choice organizations in Mississippi post-Dobbs
Last month, the Mississippi Abortion Access Coalition launched an Abortion Patient Bill of Rights designed to educate Mississippi constituents on their abortion options post-Dobbs. Tyler Harden, a longtime activist and organizer, is the Mississippi state director of Planned Parenthood Southeast – one of a dozen organizations that joined forces to create the coalition, dedicated to […]
Despite Gov. Reeves’ debate claims, experts say it’s hard to argue that states are ‘better off’ without Medicaid expansion
Gov. Tate Reeves, the state’s most powerful opponent of Medicaid expansion, repeated a familiar claim at Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate: that the program wouldn’t save the state’s failing hospitals. But health care experts say that was always clear, that the governor’s argument is missing an understanding of the challenges facing the state’s health care system […]
UMMC earns its first ‘B’ in latest hospital safety ratings
The nonprofit Leapfrog Group released its hospital safety grades for the fall of 2023, showing the state’s largest public hospital joined nine others in scoring a “B,” its highest score to date. Eight years after it received an “F” rating, the University of Mississippi Medical Center scored a “B,” which hospital leaders say is the […]
Mississippi jailed more than 800 people awaiting psychiatric treatment in a year. Just one jail meets state standards.
This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Mississippi Today. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. In Mississippi, many people awaiting court-ordered treatment for mental illness or substance abuse are jailed, even though they haven’t been charged with a crime. Read […]
Meridian health system merges with Baptist
Baptist Memorial Health Care, one of the state’s largest health systems, and Meridian-based Anderson Regional Health System will merge in January. The two faith-based health systems announced the move in a press release Wednesday, though officials did not disclose the reasoning behind the decision. Baptist CEO Jason Little said in the release that he was […]