The federal government is sending millions of dollars to Mississippi to help healthcare providers maintain adequate staffing.
U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) announced Tuesday that 20 rural hospitals and health providers in Mississippi will receive $3.75 million in federal grants to help sustain workforces.
The Rural Hospital Provider Assistance Program is awarding the Mississippi facilities grant money to ensure hospitals and clinics can keep paying their workers, allowing patients to receive care as usual.
Split among the 20 Mississippi hospitals, the $3.75 million is part of the $24.7 million that Hyde-Smith and the Senate Appropriations Committee secured for the Rural Hospital Provider Assistance Program earlier this year. The Health Resources and Services Administration administered the grant money to 132 hospitals nationwide, including Mississippi’s 20.
“I encouraged providers in Mississippi to apply for these funds because I know that every little bit helps in the struggle to maintain services and keep the doors open,” Hyde-Smith said. “This effort is more difficult because of structural payment disadvantages linked to Mississippi’s low average wage index, which is a problem Congress must address. I’m pleased these eligible hospitals availed themselves of these federal resources.”
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The following healthcare centers are receiving a $187,000 piece of the multi-million-dollar pie:
- Anderson Regional Medical Center-South Campus, Meridian
- Baptist Memorial Hospital, Booneville
- Clay County Medical Corporation, West Point
- George County Hospital, Lucedale
- Greenwood Leflore Hospital, Greenwood
- Highland Community Hospital, Picayune
- Highland Hills Medical Center, Senatobia
- Jasper General Hospital, Bay Springs
- Kings Daughters Medical Center, Brookhaven
- Magee General Hospital, Magee
- Marion General Hospital, Columbia
- Neshoba County General Hospital, Philadelphia
- Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, Clarksdale
- South Sunflower County Hospital, Indianola
- Tishomingo Health Services, Iuka
- University of Mississippi Medical Center-Grenada, Grenada
- Wayne General Hospital, Waynesboro
- Webster Health Services, Eupora
- Winston Medical Services, Louisville
- Yalobusha General Hospital, Water Valley
According to Hyde-Smith, the Rural Hospital Provider Assistance Program award is formula-based and calculates the total available funding equally among the eligible rural hospitals.