A legislative panel’s hearing Monday on Mississippi’s hospital crisis will be livestreamed.
The hearing by the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, which begins at 1:15 p.m. in Room 216 at the Capitol, can be watched on the Mississippi Legislature’s YouTube page.
The committee’s chairman, Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, said late last week that he expected the panelists to hear testimony from Tim Moore, a former top administrator at the Greenwood hospital who serves as president and CEO of the Mississippi Hospital Association; Dr. Daniel Edney, the state health officer; and possibly others.
Bryan said he hopes the hearing will focus the public’s attention on the precarious financial condition of many of Mississippi’s hospitals, including Greenwood Leflore Hospital.
The 206-bed Greenwood hospital, plagued by years of multimillion-dollar losses, has in recent months been laying off employees and shutting down services in an attempt to stay in business. Despite those austerity measures, however, hospital officials have said without a cash infusion, the hospital would have to close its doors by the end of December or early January. The hospital is jointly owned by Greenwood and Leflore County.
Gary Marchand, the hospital’s interim CEO, told NBC News that it would take $5 million to $10 million from public or private sources for the hospital to stay open until next summer, during which time the hospital is hoping that Congress or the Mississippi Legislature will enact legislation to rescue hospitals that are on the brink of insolvency.
The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, which tracks the financial condition of rural hospitals throughout the country, estimates that 38 of the 70 rural hospitals in Mississippi are at risk of closing within six years. Of those 38, 24 are said to be at risk of closing within two to three years — the highest number in the nation.
Also on Monday, the Leflore County Board of Supervisors is holding a meeting with federal, state and local officials to discuss the financial plight of Greenwood’s hospital and a strategy to prevent its closure.
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, whose district includes the hospital, is expected to attend, as are two state lawmakers from Greenwood, Sen. David Jordan and Rep. Solomon Osborne. All are Democrats.
Samuel Odle, the Indianapolis-based health-care consultant hired by the county, is also expected to attend.
The Greenwood City Council and Greenwood Leflore Hospital Board have also been invited as well.
The meeting will be held in the West Courtroom at the county courthouse.
- Contact Tim Kalich at 662-581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
