Tens of millions of dollars are being given to medical facilities across Mississippi as part of the state’s rural health transformation program.
On Wednesday, Gov. Tate Reeves announced 60 awards totaling $32,606,496 through the program. The awards come as part of Mississippi’s $205.9 million first-year implementation budget.
According to Reeves, the awards will help modernize, transform, and strengthen healthcare in rural communities across the Magnolia State.
“This is another really important round of awards,” Reeves said. “The investments we’re making today will help Mississippi train, recruit, and retain the health care professionals our rural communities need and help close gaps in mental health care by strengthening our state’s Psychiatric Emergency Services. We set out to transform health care across our state, and that’s what we’re doing.
“These investments will help Mississippi families get the care they deserve closer to home and strengthen health care for generations to come,” Reeves continued. “Thank you to President Trump, Secretary Kennedy, and Administrator Oz for their partnership in improving health care for Mississippi and her people. It’s another great day for Mississippi.”
The awards Reeves announced today represent the continuation of Mississippi’s work in the first year of a five-year transformation of rural healthcare in Mississippi. Included in the latest round of funding are:
Workforce Recruitment and Sustainable Ecosystem Development
- Southeast Mississippi Rural Health Initiative, Inc. — Forrest, Pearl River, Lamar, Perry and Covington counties ($948,790) — To recruit and retain a multidisciplinary healthcare workforce serving rural and underserved communities throughout southeast Mississippi.
- Claiborne County Medical Center — Claiborne County ($783,692) — To recruit and retain full-time healthcare professionals in order to maintain continuous hospital operations and access to care.
- Progressive Health of Houston — Chickasaw County ($660,500.00) — To recruit and retain rural healthcare professionals.
Secondary Education Medical Career Outreach
- Mississippi Center for Advancement of Prehospital Medicine — Rankin County ($375,000) — To expand EMT education for 100 participants statewide.
- Behavioral Solutions of Mississippi — Lauderdale and Scott counties ($350,000) — To strengthen the recruitment, training, retention, and deployment of qualified behavioral health professionals while expanding access to services.
- Grenada School District — Grenada County ($260,000) — To implement a hospital-connected rural healthcare career pathway designed to assist secondary students with career awareness and exploration.
Preceptor Expansion
- Jones College — Jones County ($770,000) — To recruit and train at least 150 multidisciplinary healthcare professionals as preceptors, benefiting students, employers, and rural communities across eight south-central Mississippi counties.
- Baptist Memorial Hospital-Yazoo, Inc. — Yazoo, Leake, Calhoun, Attala and Scott counties ($549,440) — To increase physician-preceptor capacity and improve access to care.
- Brown Behavioral Health Services — DeSoto County ($448,140) — To build durable clinical teaching capacity across North Mississippi.
Earn While You Learn
- Forrest County General Hospital — Forrest County ($1,257,560) — To establish Mississippi’s first “Care Connection Center,” embedded in its flagship Forrest General Hospital, serving a 19-county area in Southern Mississippi.
- Delta State University — Bolivar County ($1,082,488.82) — To strengthen Mississippi’s rural nursing workforce by creating an accessible pathway for students.
- South Central Regional Medical Center — Jones, Simpson, Smith, and Covington counties ($841,500) — To target rural residents and incumbent staff across Jones, Simpson, Smith, and Covington counties who are pursuing nursing or EMS credentials.
Psychiatric Emergency Services
- Merit Health Central/Jackson MHA, LLC — Hinds County ($4,500,000) — To establish a dedicated EmPATH (Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing) Unit adjacent to the hospital’s Emergency Department to address Mississippi’s behavioral health service gaps and reduce prolonged ED boarding, unnecessary psychiatric admissions, and inappropriate jail placements.
- Memorial Hospital at Gulfport — Harrison County ($4,496,000)— To establish a 12-recliner EmPATH Unit adjacent to the Emergency Department at Memorial Health Gulfport to address South Mississippi’s growing behavioral health crisis needs.
- University of Mississippi Medical Center Greenwood Hospital — Leflore County ($4,320,032) — To establish a dedicated EmPATH Unit adjacent to the hospital’s Emergency Department to address Mississippi’s behavioral health service gaps.
The full list of the 60 healthcare facilities and projects that received funding can be found here.