Mississippi Today

How many burn patients is UMMC treating? Depends on who you ask

Published

2 years ago

February 10, 2023

How many burn patients is UMMC treating? Depends on who you ask

by Kate Royals, Mississippi Today
February 10, 2023

The University of Mississippi Medical Center has announced it is filling a health care gap for burn care in Mississippi after the closure of the state’s only burn center.

But in the case of children with burns, the hospital is sending these patients out of state, according to an internal email from a UMMC Burn Committee member sent this week and obtained by Mississippi Today.

On at least one recent occasion, UMMC sent a pediatric burn patient to an out-of-state children’s hospital.

UMMC officials have publicly said they are caring for both adult and pediatric burn patients.At a Jan. 20 press conference announcing the creation of the burn center, the newly named medical director said the hospital has the necessary pediatric subspecialties to treat children with burns.

“We’ve got pediatric subspecialty-trained plastic surgeons and general surgeons that are 100% on board with managing that specific patient population,” said Dr. Peter Arnold, professor and division chief of plastic surgery at UMMC.

Over the weekend of Jan. 27, a child with a noncritical burn arrived at Winston Medical Center in Louisville, according to hospital officials. When the hospital attempted to transfer the patient to UMMC, the transfer was denied.

“The review I got was that everything was not ready for pediatric (burns) at UMMC,” Robert Turcotte, director of nursing at Winston Medical Center, told Mississippi Today.

Instead, the child was sent to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis – a three-hour drive from Louisville. LeBonheur is not a designated burn center but does provide care for kids with burns less than 30% of the total body surface area. It also provides follow-up care in a weekly trauma/burn clinic.

Burn injuries are particularly time sensitive, experts say – a delay in treatment can lead to worsened outcomes and increased mortality.

“I can confirm that UMMC continues to care for a large number of adult and pediatric patients with acute burns and that number increases every day,” an emailed statement from UMMC’s communications director attributed to Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs at UMMC, said on Monday.

Jones, through the communications office, said the hospital cannot comment on specific patient information, but there are “many variables” considered when deciding on “the safest and most appropriate care for a patient.”

Later this week, however, a member of the newly formed Burn Committee at UMMC listed in an internal email obtained by Mississippi Today examples of burn patients the hospital is not admitting. Those include: patients with burns greater than 20% of total body surface area; inhalational injury; electric burns; burn lesions to face, hands, feet, genitals; and, finally, children.

In response to questions about the contents of the email, UMMC Director of Communications Patrice Guilfoyle sent an emailed statement: “As part of our ongoing work around the processes and and procedures of the new Burn Center, we will receive Mississippi burn patients transferred to UMMC and then the care team, upon evaluation, will make the decision on burn treatment that’s in the best interest of the patient. Our Emergency Department last week notified emergency care staff, including Mississippi MED-COM, that we would accept transfers of all burn patients.”

MED-COM is the emergency communications for UMMC and hospitals and emergency providers throughout Mississippi.

Lawmakers on Friday debated a bill regarding the establishment of a burn center in the state, and several appeared confused about UMMC’s status in caring for burn patients. One state senator quoted from UMMC’s press release stating the burn center had already been established at UMMC.

“I just went on the website for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and I’m reading a release that just came out three weeks ago that says ‘I am pleased to announce the establishment of the Mississippi Burn Center,’” Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, said during debate on the Senate floor.

Another senator pointed out the Institutions of Higher Learning had approved UMMC to become a burn center.

“The IHL board does not have the ability to name the burn center in Mississippi. The Health Department determines that,” responded Sen. John Polk, R-Hattiesburg.

After the burn center in Greenville closed in 2005, state lawmakers in 2006 approached then-Vice Chancellor of the University of Mississippi Medical Center Dr. Dan Jones about establishing a burn center at UMMC. Jones told Mississippi Today he asked lawmakers for a yearly commitment to help UMMC run the program, but lawmakers only offered one-time money.

UMMC walked away, citing financial constraints, but lawmakers nevertheless passed a bill in 2007, sans funding, authorizing the university to create the Mississippi Burn Center. The bill being debated Friday brings forward that code section for possible amendments. Polk wanted to change the language from UMMC “shall” establish the Mississippi Burn Center to “may” establish – in light of possible competition from Mississippi Baptist Medical Center.

According to the internal email, UMMC officials are uncertain of how long the process of becoming a burn center will take. The goal, it says, is for UMMC to become a burn center admitting complex cases by January of 2025.

It also said the committee is aware most providers at UMMC do not have experience treating burn patients but there will be burn care education and training offered. Only about three additional employees will be hired at this time.

The former medical director at Merit Health Central’s burn center, Dr. Derek Culnan, is currently treating burn patients at Baptist. Speaker of the House Philip Gunn authored a bill that would allocate $12 million to establish a burn center at Baptist in Jackson. That bill is still pending.

Culnan, a fellowship-trained burn surgeon, is being sued by his former employer and the operator of the center at Merit Health Central, Joseph M. Still (JMS) Burn Center Inc., for allegedly violating his employment contract by soliciting JMS employees to join his new company. He created the new company after Merit Health Central announced it would be closing the burn center.

Officials with Baptist declined to comment when asked about the lawsuit’s impact on a potential burn center.

“It would be inappropriate for us to discuss an active lawsuit or any related plans. However, as always, we can confirm that we are committed to providing quality care for the residents of Mississippi,” a statement from Kimberly Alexander, public relations manager for Baptist Memorial Health Care, said.

Editor’s note: Kate Royals, Mississippi Today’s community health editor since January 2022, worked as a writer/editor for UMMC’s Office of Communications from November 2018 through August 2020, writing press releases and features about the medical center’s schools of dentistry and nursing.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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https://www.biloxinewsevents.com/?p=208144

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1997

Published

17 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-22 07:00:00

Dec. 22, 1997

The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the conviction of white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith for the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers.

In the court’s 4–2 decision, Justice Mike Mills praised efforts “to squeeze justice out of the harm caused by a furtive explosion which erupted from dark bushes on a June night in Jackson, Mississippi.”

He wrote that Beckwith’s constitutional right to a speedy trial had not been denied. His “complicity with the Sovereignty Commission’s involvement in the prior trials contributed to the delay.”

The decision did more than ensure that Beckwith would stay behind bars. The conviction helped clear the way for other prosecutions of unpunished killings from the Civil Rights Era.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

Medicaid expansion tracker approaches $1 billion loss for Mississippi

Published

18 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-12-22 06:00:00

About the time people ring in the new year next week, the digital tracker on Mississippi Today’s homepage tabulating the amount of money the state is losing by not expanding Medicaid will hit $1 billion.

The state has lost $1 billion not since the start of the quickly departing 2024 but since the beginning of the state’s fiscal year on July 1.

Some who oppose Medicaid expansion say the digital tracker is flawed.

During an October news conference, when state Auditor Shad White unveiled details of his $2 million study seeking ways to cut state government spending, he said he did not look at Medicaid expansion as a method to save money or grow state revenue.

“I think that (Mississippi Today) calculator is wrong,” White said. “… I don’t think that takes into account how many people are going to be moved off the federal health care exchange where their health care is paid for fully by the federal government and moved onto Medicaid.”

White is not the only Mississippi politician who has expressed concern that if Medicaid expansion were enacted, thousands of people would lose their insurance on the exchange and be forced to enroll in Medicaid for health care coverage.

Mississippi Today’s projections used for the tracker are based on studies conducted by the Institutions of Higher Learning University Research Center. Granted, there are a lot of variables in the study that are inexact. It is impossible to say, for example, how many people will get sick and need health care, thus increasing the cost of Medicaid expansion. But is reasonable that the projections of the University Research Center are in the ballpark of being accurate and close to other studies conducted by health care experts.

White and others are correct that Mississippi Today’s calculator does not take into account money flowing into the state for people covered on the health care exchange. But that money does not go to the state; it goes to insurance companies that, granted, use that money to reimburse Mississippians for providing health care. But at least a portion of the money goes to out-of-state insurance companies as profits.

Both Medicaid expansion and the health care exchange are part of the Affordable Care Act. Under Medicaid expansion people earning up to $20,120 annually can sign up for Medicaid and the federal government will pay the bulk of the cost. Mississippi is one of 10 states that have not opted into Medicaid expansion.

People making more than $14,580 annually can garner private insurance through the health insurance exchanges, and people below certain income levels can receive help from the federal government in paying for that coverage.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation championed and signed into law by President Joe Biden significantly increased the federal subsidies provided to people receiving insurance on the exchange. Those increased subsidies led to many Mississippians — desperate for health care — turning to the exchange for help.

White, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, Gov. Tate Reeves and others have expressed concern that those people would lose their private health insurance and be forced to sign up for Medicaid if lawmakers vote to expand Medicaid.

They are correct.

But they do not mention that the enhanced benefits authored by the Biden administration are scheduled to expire in December 2025 unless they are reenacted by Congress. The incoming Donald Trump administration has given no indication it will continue the enhanced subsidies.

As a matter of fact, the Trump administration, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is looking for ways to cut federal spending.

Some have speculated that Medicaid expansion also could be on Musk’s chopping block.

That is possible. But remember congressional action is required to continue the enhanced subsidies. On the flip side, congressional action would most likely be required to end or cut Medicaid expansion.

Would the multiple U.S. senators and House members in the red states that have expanded Medicaid vote to end a program that is providing health care to thousands of their constituents?

If Congress does not continue Biden’s enhanced subsidies, the rates for Mississippians on the exchange will increase on average about $500 per year, according to a study by KFF, a national health advocacy nonprofit. If that occurs, it is likely that many of the 280,000 Mississippians on the exchange will drop their coverage.

The result will be that Mississippi’s rate of uninsured — already one of the highest in the nation – will rise further, putting additional pressure on hospitals and other providers who will be treating patients who have no ability to pay.

In the meantime, the Mississippi Today counter that tracks the amount of money Mississippi is losing by not expanding Medicaid keeps ticking up.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

On this day in 1911

Published

2 days ago

December 21, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-12-21 07:00:00

Dec. 21, 1911

A colorized photograph of Josh Gibson, who was playing with the Homestead Grays Credit: Wikipedia

Josh Gibson, the Negro League’s “Home Run King,” was born in Buena Vista, Georgia.

When the family’s farm suffered, they moved to Pittsburgh, and Gibson tried baseball at age 16. He eventually played for a semi-pro team in Pittsburgh and became known for his towering home runs.

He was watching the Homestead Grays play on July 25, 1930, when the catcher injured his hand. Team members called for Gibson, sitting in the stands, to join them. He was such a talented catcher that base runners were more reluctant to steal. He hit the baseball so hard and so far (580 feet once at Yankee Stadium) that he became the second-highest paid player in the Negro Leagues behind Satchel Paige, with both of them entering the National Baseball Hame of Fame.

The Hall estimated that Gibson hit nearly 800 homers in his 17-year career and had a lifetime batting average of .359. Gibson was portrayed in the 1996 TV movie, “Soul of the Game,” by Mykelti Williamson. Blair Underwood played Jackie Robinson, Delroy Lindo portrayed Satchel Paige, and Harvey Williams played “Cat” Mays, the father of the legendary Willie Mays.

Gibson has now been honored with a statue outside the Washington Nationals’ ballpark.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.