With the COVID-19 pandemic causing the risk of closure of approximately one-third of Mississippi’s rural hospitals, the two in Hattiesburg are set to receive up to $9.41 million courtesy of Senate Bill 2372, which establishes a grant program for hospitals, and House Bill 271, which funds it.
The initiative recently was passed by both houses of the Mississippi Legislature – the Senate and the House of Representatives – and will see $7 to 8 million go to Forrest Health’s facilities and $1.41 million to Merit Health Wesley. Those monies are part of $103.7 million in grant funding that will be split between the state’s hospitals, many of which saw costs for supplies and workers go up and revenue go down because of the pandemic.
“As most people know, hospitals across the country have been struggling since COVID,” said David Hogan, president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors. “We’ve had a nursing and manpower shortage, and inflation there for a while – we weren’t able to do a lot of our routine, elective and other surgeries during the worst parts of COVID.
“One of the other biggest inconveniences has been that hospitals’ reimbursement rates for healthcare have not gone up, but labor costs have gone up; medicines and materials have gone up. It’s really got a lot of hospitals operating in the red, so the relief (from this) will be well-received through this tough time.”
Officials from Merit Health Wesley said as the bill has not yet been signed by Gov. Tate Reeves, it is too early for them to comment on the matter.
Forrest Health, a system of healthcare organizations formed to increase access to quality health care in south Mississippi, consists of some of the following locations:
- Forrest General Hospital;
- 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 grant program – which is officially known as the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program – was authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act and delivered $350 billion to state, territorial, local, and tribal governments across the country to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency.
“Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann introduced the hospital grant program as part of his 2023 Senate plan to help quell the hospital financial crisis in Mississippi, largely caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid,” said Shawn Rossi, who serves as vice president of communication and member engagement for the Mississippi Hospital Association. “The grant program was one part of a package that also included a nurse loan repayment program to combat nursing shortages and anti-trust law changes to encourage collaboration, among other proposals.
“The … program was authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act and delivered $350 billion to state, territorial, local, and tribal governments across the country to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency. Mississippi received $1.8 billion from the program. The hospital grant program is supported through those ARPA funds.”
The funds will be distributed by the Mississippi State Department of Health, which has not given a timeline for that process.
The grant monies are not restricted, as they are meant to bolster our state’s struggling healthcare system. Other medical entities set to receive funding include, but are not limited to:
- Greenville, $500,000;
- Yazoo, $799,000;
- Columbia, $971,000;
- McComb, $1.31 million; and
- Magee, $961,000.
“Private insurance has not increased their reimbursements for healthcare, but they’re reporting record profits,” Hogan said. “That is a problem, when hospitals all across the country are struggling.
“They’re going to have to do something to convince them that it’s the right thing to do, to increase those payments back to the hospitals for providing healthcare to their insured patients.”
Despite the reporting of hospital closures around the state, in November 2022 Hogan said Forrest General Hospital is doing better than many hospitals around the state, and is not under threat of closure – at least for the time being.
At the time, Hogan said good fiscal responsibility and management at the county-owned hospital have kept the facility in good standing, although Forrest General CEO Andy Woodard declined to discuss exact financial numbers.
“Our hospital is faring better than a lot of the other public hospitals,” Hogan said. “That’s not to say the (COVID-19) pandemic and the lack of Medicaid expansion have not taken a toll on our bottom line, but we are in a better financial position than a lot of the public hospitals around the state.
“I don’t foresee us being in any danger of closing in the not-too-distant future, but things do need to improve over the long term for us to be able to maintain the level of care that the community has come to expect from Forrest Health.”
On November 21, state health officer Dr. Daniel Edney told state senators that 38 – or 54 percent of – Mississippi’s rural hospitals are at risk of closing. Although some of those hospitals were facing financial problems before the pandemic hit, the virus hit hospitals across the nation in dramatic fashion, as elective procedures were suspended for a time to help avoid spreading the disease.
“And then the decision by prior administration to not expand Medicaid has hurt some,” Hogan said. “And healthcare is changing – more procedures are able to be done in a private, clinical setting, and we’re dealing with that.
“The expense of nurses and payroll in general, and inflation – there’s a whole host of reasons behind why we’re not faring as well as we have in the past.”
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, approximately 60 percent of births throughout the state in 2020 were financed by Medicaid. Reeves and other state Republicans have staved off recent proposals to expand the measure, which helps with healthcare costs for people with limited resources.
The risk of hospital closures has been particularly felt in the Mississippi Delta, with facilities such as Greenwood Leflore Hospital on River Road in Greenwood. Officials there have said the hospital will shut down by the end of this year if financial assistance isn’t rendered before then.
Hospital and county officials are currently in negotiations with state and federal leadership on measures that would fiscally help public and private hospitals throughout the state.
“So we’re optimistic about that,” Hogan said. “On the threat of the hospital closing, there would be a lot of other public hospitals to close before Forrest General, or any of Forrest Health’s affiliates, would be in that situation.”
In May 2020, Hogan dispelled rumors that Forrest General was losing $12 million a week in the early days of the pandemic, although he did say the hospital had lost some revenue during that time. Although specific numbers weren’t divulged at the time, funds from the Department of Health and Human Services did help to offset those losses.
Woodard also noted a shortfall in revenue but noted it had not necessitated layoffs.
“While every hospital has lost revenue due to the COVID-19 crisis, Forrest Health has tried to maintain jobs without having to lay off staff,” he said. “The Mississippi State Health Department has recently authorized elective procedures, and we are glad people can now get the care they need without further delay.”
