This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.
George Regional Health System (Photo from GRHS Facebook)
After Magnolia Tribune’s report that UMMC was departing MHA, George Regional Health System followed suit. More hospitals are expected do so in the days ahead.
On Friday, Magnolia Tribune reported that the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) terminated its membership in the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA). In a letter, UMMC indicated it had lost confidence in MHA’s leadership.
The move came after MHA’s political action committee, Friends of Mississippi Hospitals voted to donate $250,000 to Democratic gubernatorial challenger Brandon Presley.
Neither letter from UMMC or George Regional indicated whether the PAC’s donation to Presley impacted their decision to terminate membership. Both hospitals declined to comment beyond what was written in the letters.
Further investigation has revealed other hospitals are prepared to resign their memberships, as early as this week.
READ MORE: UMMC terminates membership with Mississippi Hospital Association
The second shoe dropped on Monday afternoon. George Regional Health System in Lucedale, sent a similar letter to MHA terminating its membership in the organization, effective immediately.
In the letter, George Regional CEO Greg Havard notified Scott Christensen, MHA Chairman, and Tim Moore, MHA President and CEO, of the George and Greene County health system’s decision.
“This letter will serve as notice that George Regional Health System and it affiliates (George and Greene County Hospitals) do hereby terminate its membership in the Mississippi Hospital Association, effective immediately,” Havard writes. “This action is a result of a realization that the Mississippi Hospital Association’s current leadership is no longer able to effectively and productively represent George Regional Health System’s interest in various meaningful areas and in fact has become counterproductive.”
In addition to the $250,000 donation, MHA’s PAC voted to make a $100,000 donation to incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann. The donations are the largest in the PAC’s history.
MHA is comprised of over 100 hospitals, healthcare systems, providers and networks that serve over 50,000 employees, as previously reported. MHA has been one of the most vocal advocates for Medicaid expansion in the state. Incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves (R) and outgoing Speaker Philip Gunn (R) both opposed expansion efforts. Both officials have voiced concern about the cost and efficacy of expansion over the years.
This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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