The Mississippi legislature has passed a bill that will allocate over $100 million to struggling rural hospitals.
With 28 hospitals in the state on the brink of full closure, lawmakers have passed Senate Bill 2372, authored by Senator Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, to establish the Mississippi Hospital Sustainability Grant Program.
Included in the grant is $103.7 million which will be to each hospital licensed by the state of Mississippi, except for hospitals operated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and hospitals operated by the State Department of Mental Health.
The program will allocate money to hospital systems that meet the following criteria:
- Each hospital that has fewer than 100 licensed beds and that is not classified as a critical access hospital that operates an emergency department shall be eligible to receive $ 625,000 to defray the costs of providing emergency department services.
- Each rural hospital that has fewer than 100 licensed beds and that is classified as a critical access hospital that operates an emergency department shall be eligible to receive $500,000 to defray the costs of providing emergency department services.
- Each hospital that operates an emergency department and that has more than 100 licensed beds shall be eligible to receive $1 million.
- Each hospital with fewer than 200 licensed beds with the majority of such beds being dedicated to providing specialty services such as women’s health services, long-term acute care, rehabilitation, or psychiatric services shall be eligible to receive $500,000.
- Each rural hospital with fewer than 100 licensed beds with no emergency department shall be eligible to receive $300,000 to defray the costs of providing access to hospital care in rural communities.
- Each small rural hospital with 50 beds or less which operated an emergency department shall be eligible to receive $250,000 to defray the costs of providing access to hospital care in rural communities.
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