Mississippi Today
Jackson hospitals’ psychiatric beds are full weeks after St. Dominic closed behavioral health
Weeks after a Jackson-based hospital announced the closure of its behavioral services unit, two metro-area hospitals are too full to accept psychiatric patients.
Both the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Merit Health Central have repeatedly been on psychiatric diversion – meaning neither are accepting new patients – since July 4.
It’s not clear when the facilities became full. MED-COM, the state’s hub for medical communication for emergency response hospitals, agencies and first responders, is housed under UMMC and operates a diversion board showing which hospitals are at capacity throughout each day.
UMMC spokespeople declined to provide information about what health facilities were on psych diversion over the holiday weekend. UMMC officials also did not respond to questions about the closure’s impact on UMMC’s psychiatric bed availability.
As of July 10, both health systems remain on psych diversion, while Merit Health Rankin’s geriatric psychiatric facility has also been added to the list.
While Merit Health Central’s June census was slightly higher than May’s, hospital spokespeople declined to attribute the uptick to the St. Dominic closure and said it was in line with what they’ve observed over the past two years.
“Demand for behavioral health services is high and we, along with other hospitals in the area, have seen an increase in patients seeking services,” said Melanie McMillan, Merit’s Jackson and Vicksburg area marketing manager, in an emailed statement.
McMillan said that when the hospital is at capacity, patients are referred to the closest available behavioral health facility, and if that’s not an option, patients are cared for on-site in the emergency department until a bed is available.
St. Dominic announced it was shuttering its behavioral health services unit on June 5, citing financial challenges in recent years. The 83-bed unit unit had been providing inpatient mental health and geriatric psychiatric treatment.
Despite saying in a statement announcing the closure that St. Dominic’s was working with partners “to help patients access the care they need,” spokesperson Meredith Bailess responded to Mississippi Today’s most recent questions that the health facility is still “exploring” those potential partners.
“We have been pleased to receive outreach from a number of interested organizations and are in active conversations,” she said. “We do not have more specific information to share at this time.”
On the heels of the closure, community members and advocates expressed concerns about the availability of mental health services in the Jackson area.
St. Dominic was one of only two single point-of-entry hospitals for Hinds Behavioral Health Services for people with mental health issues in the Jackson area. When Hinds has a single point-of-entry agreement in place with a hospital, patients referred by Hinds can be immediately admitted for care and bypass emergency rooms. Now, the only remaining one is Merit Health Central, which has 71 psychiatric beds, according to the state Department of Health.
The other option is the Hinds Behavioral Health 16-bed crisis stabilization unit, one of 14 regional community health centers throughout the state. The unit operates 24/7 and is aimed at avoiding institutionalization and stabilizing people undergoing crises.
CSUs do not accept every referral, however. They can be turned away because of lack of space or if they are deemed too violent. Data from a records request revealed that from January 2022 to March 2023, the Hinds CSU had 109 admissions and 194 denials.
Jamie Evans, the supervisor of the mobile crisis unit at Hinds, wouldn’t comment on that data. She said when the facility is full, however, they contact CSUs in other regions of Mississippi. The next closest is in Brookhaven about an hour away.
Angela Ladner, executive director of the Mississippi Psychiatric Association, said it’s too soon to say if the diversions are related to the St. Dominic closure, but it does add urgency to the situation.
“When you take a community as large as the Jackson area … I’m not sure how it couldn’t put a strain on other facilities,” Ladner said.
UMMC has 33 beds, and while the Mississippi State Hospital has recently reopened 20 adult psychiatric beds, its wait time averages two days.
Evans reported that the demand of the unit’s services remains steady and that CSU hasn’t seen an increase in patients since the St. Dominic closure. However, it has taken more coordination with all of the stakeholders involved to fill the gap left by St. Dominic, she said.
“In some instances, it may have called for a little longer wait time, but we have not had to turn anyone away,” she said. “We will not turn anyone around who is experiencing a mental health emergency. We will do whatever we need to do to ensure that they receive the assistance they need.”
Hinds recently received funding to open a second CSU, but it’s not clear when that will be. And while Merit Health Central in Jackson plans to open an additional 50 behavioral health beds — 20 adolescent, 20 adult and 10 chemical dependency — that won’t happen until later this summer.
Collaboration is needed more than ever to avoid the worst-case scenario — mentally ill people being jailed, Ladner said.
The Legislature passed House Bill 1222 this session, which requires mental health training for law enforcement to reduce the incidence of that scenario, but the impact of that legislation isn’t instantaneous.
Ladner stressed that if the number of available psychiatric beds in Jackson don’t increase “in a very speedy manner,” the consequences could be dire.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
1964: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was formed
April 26, 1964

Civil rights activists started the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to challenge the state’s all-white regular delegation to the Democratic National Convention.
The regulars had already adopted this resolution: “We oppose, condemn and deplore the Civil Rights Act of 1964 … We believe in separation of the races in all phases of our society. It is our belief that the separation of the races is necessary for the peace and tranquility of all the people of Mississippi, and the continuing good relationship which has existed over the years.”
In reality, Black Mississippians had been victims of intimidation, harassment and violence for daring to try and vote as well as laws passed to disenfranchise them. As a result, by 1964, only 6% of Black Mississippians were permitted to vote. A year earlier, activists had run a mock election in which thousands of Black Mississippians showed they would vote if given an opportunity.
In August 1964, the Freedom Party decided to challenge the all-white delegation, saying they had been illegally elected in a segregated process and had no intention of supporting President Lyndon B. Johnson in the November election.
The prediction proved true, with white Mississippi Democrats overwhelmingly supporting Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, who opposed the Civil Rights Act. While the activists fell short of replacing the regulars, their courageous stand led to changes in both parties.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Mississippi Today
Mississippi River flooding Vicksburg, expected to crest on Monday
Warren County Emergency Management Director John Elfer said Friday floodwaters from the Mississippi River, which have reached homes in and around Vicksburg, will likely persist until early May. Elfer estimated there areabout 15 to 20 roads underwater in the area.
“We’re about half a foot (on the river gauge) from a major flood,” he said. “But we don’t think it’s going to be like in 2011, so we can kind of manage this.”
The National Weather projects the river to crest at 49.5 feet on Monday, making it the highest peak at the Vicksburg gauge since 2020. Elfer said some residents in north Vicksburg — including at the Ford Subdivision as well as near Chickasaw Road and Hutson Street — are having to take boats to get home, adding that those who live on the unprotected side of the levee are generally prepared for flooding.



“There are a few (inundated homes), but we’ve mitigated a lot of them,” he said. “Some of the structures have been torn down or raised. There are a few people that still live on the wet side of the levee, but they kind of know what to expect. So we’re not too concerned with that.”
The river first reached flood stage in the city — 43 feet — on April 14. State officials closed Highway 465, which connects the Eagle Lake community just north of Vicksburg to Highway 61, last Friday.

Elfer said the areas impacted are mostly residential and he didn’t believe any businesses have been affected, emphasizing that downtown Vicksburg is still safe for visitors. He said Warren County has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to secure pumps and barriers.
“Everybody thus far has been very cooperative,” he said. “We continue to tell people stay out of the flood areas, don’t drive around barricades and don’t drive around road close signs. Not only is it illegal, it’s dangerous.”
NWS projects the river to stay at flood stage in Vicksburg until May 6. The river reached its record crest of 57.1 feet in 2011.




This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Mississippi Today
With domestic violence law, victims ‘will be a number with a purpose,’ mother says
Joslin Napier. Carlos Collins. Bailey Mae Reed.
They are among Mississippi domestic violence homicide victims whose family members carried their photos as the governor signed a bill that will establish a board to study such deaths and how to prevent them.
Tara Gandy, who lost her daughter Napier in Waynesboro in 2022, said it’s a moment she plans to tell her 5-year-old grandson about when he is old enough. Napier’s presence, in spirit, at the bill signing can be another way for her grandson to feel proud of his mother.
“(The board) will allow for my daughter and those who have already lost their lives to domestic violence … to no longer be just a number,” Gandy said. “They will be a number with a purpose.”
Family members at the April 15 private bill signing included Ashla Hudson, whose son Collins, died last year in Jackson. Grandparents Mary and Charles Reed and brother Colby Kernell attended the event in honor of Bailey Mae Reed, who died in Oxford in 2023.
Joining them were staff and board members from the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the statewide group that supports shelters and advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 2886 to form a Domestic Violence Facility Review Board.
The law will go into effect July 1, and the coalition hopes to partner with elected officials who will make recommendations for members to serve on the board. The coalition wants to see appointees who have frontline experience with domestic violence survivors, said Luis Montgomery, public policy specialist for the coalition.
A spokesperson from Gov. Tate Reeves’ office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Establishment of the board would make Mississippi the 45th state to review domestic violence fatalities.
Montgomery has worked on passing a review board bill since December 2023. After an unsuccessful effort in 2024, the coalition worked to build support and educate people about the need for such a board.
In the recent legislative session, there were House and Senate versions of the bill that unanimously passed their respective chambers. Authors of the bills are from both political parties.
The review board is tasked with reviewing a variety of documents to learn about the lead up and circumstances in which people died in domestic violence-related fatalities, near fatalities and suicides – records that can include police records, court documents, medical records and more.
From each review, trends will emerge and that information can be used for the board to make recommendations to lawmakers about how to prevent domestic violence deaths.
“This is coming at a really great time because we can really get proactive,” Montgomery said.
Without a board and data collection, advocates say it is difficult to know how many people have died or been injured in domestic-violence related incidents.
A Mississippi Today analysis found at least 300 people, including victims, abusers and collateral victims, died from domestic violence between 2020 and 2024. That analysis came from reviewing local news stories, the Gun Violence Archive, the National Gun Violence Memorial, law enforcement reports and court documents.
Some recent cases the board could review are the deaths of Collins, Napier and Reed.
In court records, prosecutors wrote that Napier, 24, faced increased violence after ending a relationship with Chance Fabian Jones. She took action, including purchasing a firearm and filing for a protective order against Jones.
Jones’s trial is set for May 12 in Wayne County. His indictment for capital murder came on the first anniversary of her death, according to court records.
Collins, 25, worked as a nurse and was from Yazoo City. His ex-boyfriend Marcus Johnson has been indicted for capital murder and shooting into Collins’ apartment. Family members say Collins had filed several restraining orders against Johnson.
Johnson was denied bond and remains in jail. His trial is scheduled for July 28 in Hinds County.
He was a Jackson police officer for eight months in 2013. Johnson was separated from the department pending disciplinary action leading up to immediate termination, but he resigned before he was fired, Jackson police confirmed to local media.
Reed, 21, was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Water Valley to live with her grandparents and help care for her cousin, according to her obituary.
Kylan Jacques Phillips was charged with first degree murder for beating Reed, according to court records. In February, the court ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial, according to court documents.
At the bill signing, Gandy said it was bittersweet and an honor to meet the families of other domestic violence homicide victims.
“We were there knowing we are not alone, we can travel this road together and hopefully find ways to prevent and bring more awareness about domestic violence,” she said.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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