Approximately a week after officials from Forrest General Hospital chose to part ways with the Mississippi Association of Hospitals, Merit Health Wesley has followed suit with that endeavor, leaving no Hattiesburg hospitals as part of that association.
That announcement came last Thursday, around the same time that North Mississippi Health Services announced its intent to leave the MAH, along with Ochsner Health Systems and North Mississippi Medical Center. The aforementioned hospitals – along with several others across the state – withdrew from the association after the Friends of Mississippi Hospitals, which serves as the association’s political action committee, made monetary donations to two candidates in the upcoming race for governor and lieutenant governor.
Including the Hattiesburg location, Merit Health operates nine hospitals across Mississippi, including three locations in Rankin County and facilities in Canton, Jackson, Vicksburg, Natchez and Biloxi.
Those locations include:
- Merit Health Wesley in Hattiesburg;
- Merit Health Women’s Hospital in Flowood;
- Merit Health Biloxi in Biloxi;
- Merit Health Central in Jackson;
- Merit Health Madison in Canton;
- Merit Health Natchez in Natchez;
- Merit Health Rankin in Brandon;
- Merit Health River Oaks in Flowood; and
- Merit Health River Region in Vicksburg.
Merit Health Wesley features more than 300 physicians and 1,200 health care professionals. The facility is the area’s first and only accredited Chest Pain Center and the only hospital in the area accredited for heart failure care.
Officials from Merit Health Wesley were not available for comment by press time.
Earlier this month – after the FMH made a $250,000 contribution to gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley and a $100,000 gift to incumbent lieutenant governor Delbert Hosemann – officials from Forrest General Hospital decided to exit the MAH, via a termination letter sent to the association by Forrest General president and CEO Andy Woodard. The letter, which was made available to the Magnolia Tribune, did not cite a specific reason for the exit from the association, which debates health policies from development through legislative, regulatory and judicial processes.
“I wish to formally notify the Mississippi Hospital Association of Forrest General Hospital’s termination of MHA membership,” Woodard’s letter states. “In light of recent events, and after careful thought and consideration, this termination shall be effective immediately.
“Please advise us of any further requirements to effectuate said termination in order to avoid undue harm to either party.”
David Hogan, who serves as the president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, said he was unable to comment on the matter regarding the hospital, which is owned by the county. Likewise, officials from the hospital were unable to comment, other than with the aforementioned information that was provided in the letter.
Presley has gone on record expressing a willingness to support Medicaid expansion, which MHA president and CEO Tim Moore said impacted the donation to Presley.
In addition to Forrest General, four other hospitals chose to leave the MHA with a few days of the donations, some of which cited a loss of confidence in the association’s leadership strategy. The first facility to leave was the University of Mississippi Medical Center, which stated complaints with the association’s behavior regarding transparency in decision-making, along with a lack of strategic vision and effective communication.
“While we see value in MHA as an organization, we have lost confidence in the current leadership,” states a letter to Moore, which was sent by UMMC vice chancellor LouAnne Woodard and associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs Alan Jones.
Shortly after UMMC’s exit, that facility was followed by George Regional Health System, Memorial Hospital and Singing River Health System in leaving the MHA.
Although those decisions were made almost immediately after the donations to the political candidates, no hospital officials have confirmed whether that led directly to the exits.
Forrest General Hospital is part of Forrest Health, a system of healthcare organizations formed to increase access to quality health care in south Mississippi. In addition to the hospital, Forrest Health is made up of the following facilities:
- Highland Community Hospital;
- Jefferson Davis Community Hospital;
- Marion General Hospital;
- Pearl River County Hospital and Nursing Home;
- Perry County General Hospital;
- Pine Grove Behavioral Health & Addiction Services;
- The Orthopedic Institute; and
- Walthall General Hospital.
The MHA is made up of more than 100 hospitals, health care systems, networks and care providers, with a pool of more than 50,000 employees. According to its website, www.mhanet.org, the association is “the statewide agency for health care representation and serves to all hospitals, wellness types, and health care networks, as well as the patients and communities they serve.
“This agency also provides quality educational offerings and information on health care issues and trends.”
