Because many of the state’s hospitals have already claimed some form of pandemic relief funds, those hospitals are ineligible for the money, an issue that lawmakers apparently did not consider.
Months after the Legislature passed a law directing millions to Mississippi’s struggling hospitals, not one has received that money, and far fewer than predicted will receive any money at all.
That’s because lawmakers erred in writing the statute, according to State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney.
Legislators in February established the Mississippi Hospital Sustainability Grant Program, which was supposed to disseminate $103 million in grant money to hospitals via the state Health Department. Despite a record state budget surplus, it was millions less than the state hospital association had asked for, but hospital leaders agreed it would help keep them afloat.