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How the burn center at Merit Health Central found its new home at Baptist Hospital

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1 year ago

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When Mississippi’s only burn center was set to close in late 2022, the team began searching for the right place to continue operations. They found a home at Baptist.

In October of 2022, the state of Mississippi lost its only fully operational burn center at Merit Health Central. However, upon the closure of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, the team there did not slow in their mission to provide world class care.

Leading the team at Merit Health Central was Dr. Derek Culnan, Medical Director for the Mississippi Burn, Hand & Reconstruction Center. Dr. Culnan is a 2005 graduate of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He has over 17 years of experience as a plastic surgeon with a specialist for burn care.

The search begins

Dr. Derek Culnan, Medical Director

When the news broke, Dr. Culnan and others on the team worked tirelessly to find a new location for operations.

“Beginning in September, the CEO at Central said, ‘We aren’t going to run the burn center here anymore,’ and gave us 30 days’ notice,” said Dr. Culnan. “At the time, we were seeing somewhere in the neighborhood of six to seven hundred clinic visits monthly. I, myself, was doing around 250 surgeries a month. That’s a whole lot of disease burden to have in a state to just shut down.”

Dr. Culnan said he began speaking to hospitals across the state to determine if there was one that could fit a service of their size. This research included hospitals like the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) and St. Dominic’s, both located in Jackson.

Culnan also wanted to ensure the facility could accommodate as many of the team members in the move as possible. He noted that there are less than 250 doctors across the nation who specialize in burn care and retaining professionals that do this kind of work was essential.

The team anticipated that the location would have to accommodate upwards of 2,000 patients annually for services.

When the search was over, Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, in Jackson, was chosen as the team’s next home.

Dr. Derek Culnan at the entrance of Baptist for Women, which serves as the main entrance for the burn center.

“This view right here is what kind of, really, closed the deal,” said Dr. Culnan when looking toward the large roundabout in the front of the Baptist for Women entrance. “Because again it comes down to a capacity to provide care and they [Baptist] weren’t saying, ‘Oh, we will find a place to shoe-horn you in,’ they said, ‘We have a place they can pull up.’”

Burn center operations ceased on October 15, 2022, at Merit Health Central. Dr. Culnan was providing outpatient care at Baptist by November 15, and the first operation was performed on November 29.

Since December of 2022, the burn center operating at Baptist has seen 1,251 clinic visits, 612 operation cases, and 535 unique physical therapy cases.

Making Baptist home

The layout for the Mississippi Burn, Hand and Reconstruction Center at Baptist makes it easy for patients to navigate the facility. This was an important factor for Dr. Culnan when finding a new facility.

“I think we are going to do great things here. I think that this hospital has that ability and we are going to give something more to the state than maybe we’ve ever been able to give before. The people around here will come in sick and leave well, that they will not just survive but thrive,” said Dr. Culnan on the move to Baptist.

When walking through the burn center area, clinics and surgical areas are all located within seconds from each other on the same floor. The step-down recovery wing is one floor up and ICU is a floor above that, all with easy access to the elevator. Dr. Culnan said this layout was a key component in determining where the burn center would move their operations.

The Mississippi Burn, Hand and Reconstructive Center at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center is a 34-bed comprehensive specialty center. They have 10 beds dedicated to the ICU and treat a wide variety of burn injuries.

One of the step-down recovery rooms accessible to patients with the burn center.

The step-down unit, which is the most recent component care, can accommodate up to 24 patients at any time. The staff is no stranger to admitting patients for all over. Steps outside the doors to the burn center, there is a sectioned off helicopter pad. Dr. Culnan said the helicopter pad provides feasible flight routes in and out based on needs determined by the hospital emergency room.

The team consists of Dr. Culnan, continuing as Medical Director, six advance practice providers, three certified hand therapists, 24 full-time ICU nurses, and many people filling administrative rolls. They have now begun the process of staffing the recently opened step-down unit.

Dr. Culnan said there was a large group of professionals that followed from Merit Health Central. He said the team are working to regain many who had to seek other employment in the interim period.

“Now that we are really up and running, we have gotten burn specialized dietitians, physical therapists, more occupational therapists and nurses that are ready to come. The majority of the staff of burn care wanted to come,” said Robert Sutton, Program and Clinical Director

Ease of access was not the only layout component taken into consideration.

Dr. Culnan said the beauty of Baptist’s facilities provides an extra nudge of security and hope for patients receiving care. He described extra attention to detail and certain aesthetics that were used within the clinic rooms and recovery wing that are intended to make patients feel more comfortable.

“Every time I walk by the chandelier on the way in it reminds me that there is something more to taking care of people,” said Dr. Culnan. “The truth is, it really matters that a patient feels like they’re in an environment with some degree of beauty, of hope that they’re going to get back to something.”

Dr. Culnan said the religious element of Baptist’s mission instills a notion that “good enough” should not be the baseline for care. Instead, he said, it encourages staff and physicians to treat patients in a way they would want to be treated.

“Being cared for in an environment that can often be overlooked, it’s nice to look around and say, ‘Wow, this is actually really pretty,’” said Culnan. “You feel more secure, you may feel like there is hope.”

The Aaronic Blessing hanging in the clinic of the burn center.

On one of the doors to the clinic hangs a scripture verse, the Aaronic Blessing.

“The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Numbers 6:24-26”

The verse is on a piece of memorabilia that followed the team from Merit to the halls of the new clinic at Baptist.

Partnership improving care

Moving operations to Baptist not only provided space and streamlined operations, but additional availability to other medical specialties. Merit Health Central faced difficulties in obtaining specialty resources, and ultimately it led to the burn center closure.

“For instance, if you need a urinary catheter and it won’t go in, then you need a urologist, and you need one on call 24-7 for that,” said Dr. Culnan. ”This hospital actually has a complete urology group, so that works in a situation like that.”

Dr. Culnan said if a specialty care doctor is on call just for the burn center, it is a huge financial obligation to a hospital. Since many specialty groups already exist within Baptist Hospital, it has created a much smoother integration of care. Culnan added, there has not been a situation yet that required a specialty they did not have access to while at Baptist.

For Dr. Culnan and the team at the burn center, it is all about the small logistics when making a space work to treat thousands more people yearly. The team looks at elements like ventilation, access to rooms for storage of sterile equipment, and even access to other operating rooms if one is not available within the burn center.

Room to grow and care for all

The burn center continues to treat patients and increase beds to provide care to more and more patients. They are also converting additional unused space into areas usable treatment areas.

A large, currently unused teaching room, will soon be converted to a separate physical therapy space. Currently, the hand/burn therapy clinic is operating in the main Baptist building.

“A major part of dealing with burns, but frankly every major injury, is therapy,” said Dr. Culnan.

Additional operating rooms and ICU units are expected to be up and running in the near future. Many of these areas were shuddered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Culnan said additional resources are critical to the overall health capacity in the state. This is particularly important since much of the state is considered rural and lacks easily accessible healthcare.

Once renovations are complete there will be five dedicated burn center OR’s. Currently they are sharing OR time with Baptist general surgery.

“As of right now, I am taking care of people,” said Dr. Culnan. “I am taking care of whatever comes. I have not turned away any adults.”

Dr. Culnan said the pediatric portion of the burn center is not fully operational, so some children have been routed to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. In the meantime, the hospital and burn center are stocking up on toys donated by Disney to help make everyone’s stay a little more pleasant.

“If you come to us and you’re burned, we are going to take care of you,” said Sutton. “If you have no insurance, no place to live or if you own a mansion in Madison, you’re going to get the same level of care.”

In the past at Merit, roughly one-third of the patients seen were self-pay. Another third were on Medicaid or Medicare.

Dr. Culnan said in the six months they have been operating, not once has the hospital told him he could not help a patient based on a financial hardship.

“This is a long healing process, and part of that process of healing is having your family with you,” said John David Smith, Vice President of Outreach and Education.

Smith said their mission is to help keep Mississippians in Mississippi when receiving burn care in order to better facilitate what can be a very long recovery process. The central location of Baptist, in Jackson, offers a convenience benefit to patients.

The center is also working to make sure those who need care, receive it. For instance, if someone cannot make it to an appointment or surgery, they have provided gas cards or booked Ubers to get them there.

“I’ve got a stack of gas cards, food vouchers to a ton of local restaurants, retail vouchers and hotels,” said Sutton. “This isn’t just for initial visits; this is for the entire length of care.”

As the burn center moves forward, Dr. Culnan said he aims to provide world class care for the state. One of the things that drew him to Mississippi was the overall need for someone with his specialty.

“I believe that if you swear you are going to take care of the sick and the needy, if you bend your knee to God and say you’re going to do it, you better damn well do it,” said Dr. Culnan. “I think we are going to do great things here.”

The post How the burn center at Merit Health Central found its new home at Baptist Hospital appeared first on Magnolia Tribune.

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By: Sarah Ulmer
Title: How the burn center at Merit Health Central found its new home at Baptist Hospital
Sourced From: magnoliatribune.com/2023/05/31/how-the-burn-center-at-merit-health-central-found-its-new-home-at-baptist-hospital/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-the-burn-center-at-merit-health-central-found-its-new-home-at-baptist-hospital
Published Date: Wed, 31 May 2023 13:59:40 +0000

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Staring mortality in the face at Christmas

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11 months ago

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December 16, 2023

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My friend Jarrod is dying after an eight year battle with cancer. He’s lived a life worth celebrating, one that has drawn people to Christ.

I was going about my business this week when I received a text that stopped me in my tracks. A college friend was being moved to hospice care.

Jarrod Egley was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in early 2017. In the fall of 2018, tests revealed the cancer had spread to his lungs and Jarrod’s cancer was classified as Stage IV.

For almost eight years from the date of the original diagnosis, he’s fought. Through surgeries, radiation, endless rounds and cycles of chemotherapy, and experimental immunotherapies, he’s fought.

Last year, I flew out to California and spent some time with Jarrod and his wife, Emily. We sat outside one night. He acknowledged to me that it was not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’ the cancer would claim his life. I told him I was sorry, because what else is there to say?

We talked about our faith, about the trials of Job, about Jacob wrestling with God, about Paul’s affliction. But mostly we reflected on our time together in school, on the good things, and the mundane things, that happened since.

Jarrod and I met at Tulane University. One Sunday morning in the Spring of my freshman year, I rose from my dorm room bed, dressed, and began walking down Saint Charles Avenue in New Orleans with no particular agenda. I walked until I came across First Baptist Church and the thought flickered in the vacuous recesses of my brain to enter.

Some would say it was a lark. The Calvinist in me says providence. The walk that morning changed the trajectory of my time at Tulane and my life on the whole. Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Baptist Collegiate Ministry became central to my life and put me in regular league with Jarrod. I met him first at the BCM and we ultimately ended up attending church together.

Jarrod was a faithful servant on and off campus. He helped organize a group of us that would weekly make our way down to the Esplanade seawall on the backside of the French Quarter to feed the homeless. On Friday nights, he could be found at chapel with a small cadre of students foregoing Bourbon Street for early 2000s worship music.

Jarrod was a loyal friend in those years. Never rude or biting. Not prone to an insult for an easy laugh. Persistently encouraging. An engineering student, his mind worked linearly and was oriented to problem solving. There were never a lot of wasted words — always a lot of deliberative questions when he disagreed or did not understand a point. He exhibited intelligence, empathy, and the kind of moral conviction that sets someone apart.

He also had a wry and dry sense of humor and a penchant for beating people at Madden football. He was fair-to-midland on the ultimate frisbee pitch. Along the way, there were crawfish boils, Mardi Gras outtings, poorly attended Tulane football games, and more than a decent amount of wing eating.

After college, I lost touch with Jarrod. He moved back to his home state of California. He got married to his college sweetheart, who could not have anticipated her husband’s journey, but has been a steady and constant helpmate throughout. Jarrod became a very successful engineer and a bourbon connoisseur. One of his bucket list trips took him to Kentucky, where he got to meet and became friends with bourbon “Hall of Famer” Freddie Johnson of Buffalo Trace acclaim.

Jarrod at Buffalo Trace Distillery (Spring 2022).

Sitting in his backyard nearly 20 years after graduating from Tulane, I saw many of the same qualities I had grown to admire when we were students together. I saw a husband who doted on and supported Emily’s passions. But I also saw someone whose body had been beaten to hell and back, who was tired, and who, like Jacob, had been wrestling with God. We quickly fell back into friendship, which perhaps is the mark of good friendship.

We all have aspirations in our youth — for the kind of spouse or parent we might be, for what we might accomplish, for what we might experience. Along the way, dreams are satisfied, modified, or they die on the vine. The clock inevitably works against all of us. That night in Oceanside, California, Jarrod, a numbers guy, saw that time was not on his side. He believed, as we all would, that he still had more to give, more impact to be made, and more things to see and experience.

After that trip, Jarrod and I stayed in touch, most frequently triggered by news of his cancer. It has been mostly the bad variety in recent months. Now spread throughout his body, down to his bones, he has lived in constant pain for months. Not even a steady diet of morphine and an implanted pain pump solve for it. Jarrod’s been hospitalized twelve times just in 2023.

But his matter of fact sense of humor and way of seeing the world remains in tact. So too does his faith that despite these trials, he has always been safe in the hands of Christ.

There are people in the world who believe that life is random, disordered, and without reason. I am not among them. I think my friend is staring mortality in the face at Christmas for a reason.

For thousands of years before Christ came, there was darkness and despair. Sin and shame gripped the hearts of men. Until one holy night, God, in His infinite love, mercy and wisdom, sent His son to save. Jesus is the light of the world and the hope of man. He has won victory over death and Jarrod’s will not be the exception. Jesus came for Jarrod, and for you.

For thousands of years since Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection, His disciples have been used as divine instruments to point the way to God. Jarrod is among them. If life expectancies were the measure, Jarrod would be at the midway point for most people. He’s made a lifetime of impact for the Kingdom and on other people.

So, to my friend Jarrod, you were placed here with a purpose. You have run your race. You are loved. And when this chapter closes, you will hear “well done, my good and faithful servant.” There is no greater evidence of a life well lived.

While Jarrod and Emily have been fortunate to have health insurance, their portion of the medical bills so far in 2023 have eclipsed $30,000, and Emily is facing additional uncovered expenses during Jarrod’s hospice care, including a night nurse that costs over $400 a night. If you would like to help defray the cost, a contribution can be made at their Go Fund Me page.

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By: Russ Latino
Title: Staring mortality in the face at Christmas
Sourced From: magnoliatribune.com/2023/12/16/staring-mortality-in-the-face-at-christmas/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=staring-mortality-in-the-face-at-christmas
Published Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2023 15:05:22 +0000

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Magnolia Mornings: December 15, 2023

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11 months ago

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December 15, 2023

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Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.

In Mississippi

1. Laurin St. Pe’ named CEO of Singing River Health System

Laurin St. Pe

The Board of Trustees of Singing River Health System announced the immediate appointment of Laurin St. Pe’ as the Chief Executive Officer on Thursday.

“We are thrilled to announce Laurin St. Pe as the new CEO of Singing River,” said Steve Ates, Board President in a statement. “His wealth of healthcare experience and proven track record make him the ideal leader to steer our health system toward its next phase of growth and success.”

St. Pe’, who has been serving as Interim CEO since July 2023, said he is honored to assume the role of CEO at Singing River. He has worked at Singing River as Administrator of Singing River Health System’s Pascagoula Hospital and Gulfport Hospital, in addition to overseeing program service lines throughout the entire system to his subsequent appointment as Chief Operating Officer of Singing River.

The health system says St. Pe played a crucial role in the financial revitalization of Singing River Health System while steering the organization toward financial stability.

2. Gulfport-Biloxi airport, Stennis evacuated after threats

The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport was evacuated on Thursday morning “out of an abundance of caution,” airport officials said, after receiving an emailed threat to certain transportation entities across the state.

The airport was thoroughly security swept, cleared and reopened in just over two hours. Gulfport-Biloxi is now operating regularly.

The threat was also sent to Stennis International Airport. Their staff and personnel were also evacuated until the facilities could be swept and cleared.

Any passenger whose travel was affected by the evacuation is encouraged to contact their respective air carrier.

3. Cassidy arrested in Iowa for beheading Satanic Temple statue

Former Mississippi congressional and legislative candidate Michael Cassidy was arrested this week in Iowa for beheading a statue at the state’s Capitol erected by The Satanic Temple.

Cassidy reportedly decapitated the statue and turned himself to police on Thursday. He was charged with fourth degree criminal mischief. He then started an online legal defense fund where he’s raised upwards of $20,000 as of Thursday night, according to his X account.

4. “Serial fraudster” ordered to cease offering investments into companies

According to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office, on October 26, 2023, Secretary Michael Watson and the Securities Division issued an order against Stephone N. Patton. The SOS says Patton is a serial fraudster with multiple criminal convictions in Mississippi and Florida.

Through business filings with the SEC and Mississippi, Patton has held himself to be the CEO of various companies, including Star Oil and Gas Company, Inc., North Gulf Energy Corporation, Inc., Patton Oilfield Services, Inc., and Patton Farms, LLC.

The SOS says using these business filings and company websites, Patton claimed to have raised hundreds of billions of dollars through investment opportunities. Through investigative efforts and collaboration with the SEC, the SOS discovered none of Patton’s companies are operational, have any assets, or generate any revenues. Account records show Patton spent investors’ funds almost as soon as he received them on personal expenses. The total amount of known investments made to Patton’s fraudulent companies is over $80,000. Further, none of Patton’s investment offerings have been registered or notice filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office.

The SOS order requires Patton to cease and desist from offering investments with his companies, requiring Patton to permanently deactivate his companies’ websites to prevent any further dissemination of his false or misleading information. Patton is also ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $25,000 to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office for these violations, in addition to restitution owed to all his Mississippi investors.

National News & Foreign Policy

1. Congressional retirements mounting as 2024 election cycle nears

Retirement and departure announcements are piling up ahead of the start to the 2024 election cycle. The New York Times has developed a Retirement Tracker that currently shows 22 Democrats and 11 Republicans who are in Congress now will not be seeking re-election next year.

“Dozens of members of Congress have announced plans to leave their seats in the House of Representatives, setting a rapid pace for congressional departures, with more expected as the 2024 election draws closer,” the NY Times reports. “Given Republicans’ razor-thin House majority, the wave of exits has the potential to lead to a significant shake-up next year.”

You can find the tracker here.

2. Texas, Daily Wire, The Federalist sue U.S. State Department over media censorship

The U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center has come under fire as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton along with The Daily Wire and The Federalist have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the department funded technology that could “render disfavored press outlets unprofitable.” They claim that the department has helped social media – Facebook, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) – to censor free speech while funding technologies used to censor right-leaning news outlets such as theirs.

New Civil Liberties Alliance is representing The Daily Wire and The Federalist. Paxton and the outlets claim the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a British think tank, received a $100,000 grant from the State Department in 2021, and NewsGuard, which rates the “misinformation” levels of news outlets, received $25,000 from the State Department in 2020, according to the lawsuit.

According to the State Department’s website, the Global Engagement Center’s mission is to direct, lead, synchronize, integrate, and coordinate U.S. Federal Government efforts to recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining or influencing the policies, security, or stability of the United States, its allies, and partner nations.

As reported by Reuters, the lawsuit cited a GDI-produced list from December 2022 that ranked The Daily Wire and The Federalist as among the 10 “riskiest sites” for news while the least-risky included The New York Times, Associated Press and NPR. Reuters notes that the lawsuit alleges such “blacklists” are reducing revenues to The Daily Wire and The Federalist along with their visibility on social media and ranking results from browser searches.

Sports & Entertainment

1. SEC releases 2024 schedules

Wednesday evening, the Southeastern Conference released the 2024 football schedules for its member schools, including of interest in the Magnolia State the schedules for Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

It is the first schedule that includes new conference members University of Oklahoma and University of Texas, bringing the conference to 16 schools. Each SEC team will play eight conference football games plus at least one required opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 or major independent, each team will have two open dates.

The 2024 season will be the first year the SEC will play a schedule without divisional competition since 1991. The top two teams in the league standings based on winning percentage will play in the 33rd SEC Football Championship Game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday, December 7.

2. White, Jesiolowski, Jones honored by MAIS

John White

The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) in Mississippi, comprised of non-public schools, announced this week that Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s senior quarterback John White was named the 6A Player of the Year while Hartfield’s Reed Jesiolowski and Hartfield Chris Jones were named the MAIS 6A Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively.

All three have committed to play college football at the University of Mississippi.

White is Mississippi’s all-time leader in career passing yards with 15,259 yards, a record he broke during the 2023 season.

MAIS, like the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) for public schools, is broken down into classifications, from 1A to 6A. However, MHSAA added a 7A this season.

Markets & Business

1. Consumer retail sales up as energy, gas prices move down

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this week that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in November after being unchanged in October. Retail sales rose 0.3% in November after rising 0.2% in October, meaning consumers continue to spend at the start of the holiday season.

The CPI or inflation rate is 3.1%, higher than the Federal Reserve target of 2% but below the 9% peak in 2022 which reached a 40-year high.

As for the energy index, BLS reported that it fell 2.3% in November after decreasing 2.5% in October. The gasoline index decreased 6% in November, following a 5% decrease in the previous month.

The index for fuel oil fell in November, decreasing 2.7%. However, the natural gas index rose 2.8% over the month after rising 1.2% the previous month. The index for electricity also rose 1.4% in November, after increasing 0.3% in October.

The energy index fell 5.4% over the past 12 months. The gasoline index decreased 8.9%, the natural gas index declined 10.4%, and the fuel oil index fell 24.8% over this 12-month span.

2. Week’s market rally continues into Friday

At close of trading on Thursday, the U.S. markets continued the week’s rally, pushing the Dow up 158 points to 37,248 while the Nasdaq and S&P also made gains, 27 points and 12 points, respectively, to close at 14,761 and 4,719.

The record high for the Dow on Thursday moved futures up 102 points.

According to CNBC, the major averages are headed for their seventh straight positive week. As of Thursday, the Dow is higher on the week by 2.8%. The S&P 500 is up by 2.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.5% this week.

Stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged this week while members look towards cuts in the new year and beyond.

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By: Magnolia Tribune
Title: Magnolia Mornings: December 15, 2023
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Published Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000

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New water rates expected in Jackson come 2024; those who don’t pay face shut off

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11 months ago

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December 15, 2023

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Interim Third-Party Director Ted Henifin said this week that only about 59% of the City of Jackson’s water customers are paying their bills.

JXN Water has announced new rates and fees coming in 2024. Those who are not paying will be at risk of shut offs.

The company, which was established by federal appointed interim Third-Party Director Ted Henifin, has been overseeing the city’s water system for the better part of a year.

Officials estimated that the average cost for water in the city was $76 per month for residents. Henifin clarified that JXN water will not attempt to recoup any charges prior to November 29, 2022, and will work with those who have failed to pay since that time.

He said only about 59 percent of the city’s water customers are paying their bills.

“You can’t forgive bills, so we have to be creative in how we part that,” said Henifin in reference to Mississippi’s laws that prevent giving away water.

According to a release by JXN Water announcing the rate changes, residents in single family households with small meters that use up to 748 gallons daily would see a bill increase of roughly .30 cents per day. Research indicates that the average U.S. family uses 300 gallons per day.

SNAP customers will have a new rate tier that could lower their bill by up to .69 cents per day, on average.

“Those who need to save the most benefit from saving money by drinking tap water. This new rate structure makes water affordability possible for 12,500 JXN Water customers who receive SNAP benefits,” said Henifin in the release.

Read more about the anticipated rate changes here.

New fees will also be implemented, including a new service fee of $50, service deposit of $100, returned check fee of $25, service restoration fee of $100, and meter tampering charge of $500. 

JXN Water has continued to encourage residents to use the water, with Henifin going on the record in a federal status hearing saying that the water “was safe to drink.”

More conversation regarding the billing process is expected to come at next week’s Jackson City Council meeting.

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By: Sarah Ulmer
Title: New water rates expected in Jackson come 2024; those who don’t pay face shut off
Sourced From: magnoliatribune.com/2023/12/15/new-water-rates-expected-in-jackson-come-2024-those-who-dont-pay-face-shut-off/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-water-rates-expected-in-jackson-come-2024-those-who-dont-pay-face-shut-off
Published Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2023 20:00:00 +0000

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