List of those leaving Mississippi Hospital Association continues to grow after donation

At least eight hospital systems, which oversee dozens of individual hospitals and clinics including some of the largest in the state, have left the Mississippi Hospital Association in recent weeks, according to media reports and sources close to some of the departing hospitals.

The reasons for the sudden exodus are not entirely clear, with each of the systems either declining to comment or not responding to requests for comment by publication, but they all came shortly after a Political Action Committee associated with the MHA donated $250,000 to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley.

The departures include some of the state's largest healthcare providers. University of Mississippi Medical Center was first to leave, announcing its departure in an April 28 letter. Since then, others have departed, including Memorial Health System, Singing River Health System, George Health System, Forrest General Hospital, Merit Health, Ochsner Health Services and North Mississippi Health Services. Most of those systems operate multiple hospitals and clinics.

While spokespeople for hospital systems declined to comment, in some cases their notices of departure are public records. In letters obtained by the Clarion Ledger, hospital systems cited disagreements over strategy and a lack of faith in the current leadership, but none that were obtained as of publication directly mentioned the donation.

The April 28 letter from UMMC Vice-Chancellor LouAnn Woodward and Associate Vice-Chancellor Alan Jones was similar.

"We thoughtfully take this action due to recurring behavior including insufficient transparency around decision making, a misaligned strategic vision and a lack of effective communication. While we see value in MHA as an organization, we have lost confidence in its current leadership," the letter from UMMC reads.

Ochsner and Singing River also provided the Clarion Ledger with copies of their letters.

"After careful consideration of the current structure and leadership of the MHA and continuing concerns around strategy, communication and leadership, we can no longer support the organization in its current form," reads the letter sent by Singing River's CEO and president, dated May 1. "While MHA can play an important role in supporting hospitals across the state, we have lost confidence in its ability to do so under the current leadership."

"Ochsner supports MHA’s mission to promote excellence in health through education, public information,advocacy, and service," reads the letter from Ochsner President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Hulefeld. "There is tremendous value in having a hospital association that serves as a strategic and thoughtful advocate on issues of importance to Mississippi’s hospitals and the patients we serve. Unfortunately, MHA’s current leadership and approach is preventing the association from accomplishing this goal."

Presley, who has campaigned on expanding Medicaid as a method of providing much-needed cash to some of the state's struggling hospitals, received five times more in that MHA donation than from his next largest donor. It was also the largest donation Friends of Mississippi Hospitals has ever made MHA Director Tim Moore told Mississippi Today earlier this month. The MHA-head also said the PAC planned to donate $100,000 to the reelection campaign of Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann.

Moore has been a vocal supporter of Medicaid expansion in recent years, including seeking to pass it as a ballot initiative in 2022. However, that campaign was scrapped in 2021 after the state's initiative process was struck down by the state supreme court. The legislature has yet to reinstate it. Expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has been opposed by state leaders, including Presley's opponent, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves.

At the time of publication, Moore had not responded to requests for comment. In the interview with Mississippi Today, Moore said the donation likely played a role in at least some of the departures, but that it was a decision made in the best interests of the member-hospitals.

"We all have had these discussions for a number of years now that we support candidates that support hospitals, and here is a candidate that is coming very strongly forward with a complete health care agenda,” Moore said. “It was certainly not just … it was not my decision.”

The list of hospitals walking away has only grown since that interview, published May 10.

In an interview even earlier this month with Paul Gallo of SuperTalk Mississippi, Moore said hospital systems citing disagreements over strategy baffles him.

"It's concerning. It's disappointing that some of our hospitals have gone a different direction when all of these folks have certainly been involved in the strategic planning of MHA," Moore told Gallo.

The hospitals that have departed account for some of the largest in the state. According to a 2021 list of the largest hospitals in Mississippi by bed size published by Hospital Management, seven of the top 10 are part of systems that have now left or announced intentions to leave the MHA.

UMMC had the most beds in the state, at 722. North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo came in second with 640. Forrest General came in fifth with 547. Singing River’s Pascagoula Hospital came in sixth with 435. Merit Health River Region in Vicksburg came in seventh with 361. Memorial Hospital in Gulfport came in ninth with 328. Merit Health Central in Jackson came in 10th with 319.

All seven of those hospitals are now expected to leave the MHA's membership list. According to its website, the MHA currently has 111 member hospitals, though that number seems to include those that are leaving.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Some of Mississippi's largest hospitals have left the MHA