Mississippi: Governor Reeves Announces 60 Rural Health Transformation Program Awards Totaling $32.6 Million
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves announced on October 21 that the state has made 60 awards totaling $32,606,496.32 through the Mississippi Rural Health Transformation Program to strengthen rural health care across the state.
The awards are part of the program's $205.9 million first-year implementation budget. Mississippi's total federal assistance award is $205,990,180.16, 99.96 percent funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The state had previously announced more than $104.1 million in first-year awards; the program runs for five years.
The 60 awards fall into five categories: 20 for workforce recruitment and sustainable ecosystem development, 4 for secondary education medical career outreach, 12 for preceptor expansion, 21 for earn-while-you-learn programs, and 3 for psychiatric emergency services.
Psychiatric emergency services account for $13,316,032, about 41 percent of the round. Merit Health Central/Jackson MHA, LLC in Hinds County receives $4,500,000 for an EmPATH unit adjacent to its emergency room; Memorial Hospital at Gulfport in Harrison County receives $4,496,000 for a 12-recliner EmPATH unit; and the University of Mississippi Medical Center Greenwood Hospital in Leflore County receives $4,320,032 for an EmPATH unit.
Other large awards include $1,257,560 to Forrest County General Hospital for Mississippi's first Care Connection Center serving a 19-county area, $1,082,488.82 to Delta State University, and $948,790 to the Southeast Mississippi Rural Health Initiative.
The state said additional funding opportunities launching in October include help for small rural providers to modernize electronic health record systems, with details at mississippirhtp.com.
Reeves said rural hospitals are lifelines for their communities and the investment is meant to keep emergency and specialty care close to home. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz praised the pace of Mississippi's rollout.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 密西西比州议会大厦，位于杰克逊（资料图）。CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson (file photo). CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
