The number of rural hospitals at risk of closing in Mississippi is now 28, down from 38 late last year, reports the Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Center For Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
Mississippi’s health care crisis is worsening as hospitals close and lawmakers continue to resist expanding Medicaid, the Mississippi State Medical Association warned.
Mississippi thus far has avoided the dramatic uptick in new cases that countries like the United Kingdom and South Africa have faced from the omicron variant of coronavirus, but state health leadership is encouraging residents to remain vigilant after detecting the variant in Mississippi.
With the holiday season arriving and Thanksgiving imminent, public-health officials are encouraging Mississippians to gather responsibly and avoid spreading COVID-19, using a combination of vaccination, testing and other safety precautions to limit the threat of family transmission of the virus.
Gov. Tate Reeves is not quite ready to call a special session to establish a medical marijuana program for Mississippi, but a session is likely soon.
Mississippi now leads the nation in COVID-19 deaths per 100,000, usurping New Jersey, an early pandemic hotspot that until last week had held the title for 15 months. The Magnolia State claimed the unenviable title following a month in which the delta variant surge pushed hospitals to the point of collapse with coronavirus patient levels at all-time highs for both children and adults.
Multiple pregnant women died of COVID-19 in recent weeks at a single hospital, two Mississippi health leaders say. “I know at one of the major hospitals here in Jackson, there have been several pregnant women die with COVID within the past couple of weeks.”
The Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine. Mississippi now expects the first of many vaccine mandates to come for health-care workers.
Almost 500 unfilled slots for COVID-19 vaccine appointments remained available for today by Sunday evening along with 400 unfilled openings for Tuesday.
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