Dozens of struggling Mississippi hospitals could soon receive $103 million in grant awards that could help keep them afloat if Gov. Tate Reeves signs Senate Bill 2372 and House Bill 271 into law after the Legislature sent both bills to his desk this week. The bills would grant funds to hospitals based on size, services, and location.
S.B. 2372 creates Mississippi Hospital Sustainability Grant Program, while H.B. 271 is the appropriation bill that funds it. The Republican governor expressed skepticism about such legislation in January, but Republican leaders in the Legislature nevertheless advanced the proposals.
“We try to give weight to hospitals that are more rural because they are the ones that have truly been impacted,” Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, said while introducing the conference reports for the bills on Monday.
Chart showing what each hospital will receive after Gov. Tate Reeves signs Senate Bill 2372 and House Bill 271 into law.
The legislation provides $700,000 to the Mississippi Department of Health to administer the funds and excludes U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and the Mississippi Department of Mental Health hospitals.
Under the proposal, 30 hospitals in the state with more than 100 beds will receive $1 million each; 21 hospitals with less than 100 beds operating an emergency room will get $625,000 each; and more than 40 rural hospitals that have less than 50 beds and operate emergency rooms will receive $250,000 add-on each. The 108 hospitals the legislation covers cumulatively have 10,998 licensed beds. MSDH will distribute any remaining funds after those specific allocations, which are based on about $2,000 per bed.
S.B. 2372 says the goal for the funding is to “strengthen, improve, and preserve access to Mississippi hospital care services for all Mississippians, as well as to recognize the challenges incurred by Mississippi hospitals as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
But even before COVID-19, rural hospitals in the state were struggling. At least 28 could be in danger of closing, the Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Center For Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform found in a January study.
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On the Senate floor Monday, Sen.