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Mississippians in counties with Uber services can request free rides to their county health department appointments starting next month. 

As the state’s health care crisis persists and Mississippians may increasingly rely on county health departments for care, the new program is aimed at making transportation more accessible for rural Mississippians, and in turn, decreasing “no shows” at health department appointments.

The one-year emergency contract, which Mississippi Today obtained through a public records request, says the Mississippi State Health Department will pay Uber Health up to $1 million for non-emergency services transporting patients to their health department appointments, to the pharmacy if needed and then returning them home. Though the contract is retroactively effective to September, rides will start being offered in November. 

The rider will not be charged, and the health department will schedule transportation. It’s not clear exactly how those rides will be scheduled, and Mississippi Department of Health officials couldn’t provide details by press time and did not make anyone available for an interview about the initiative. 

Agency officials also said the funds were from a federal grant but did not specify which one.

Uber’s responsibilities include assessing its coverage area within Mississippi, collaborating with the health department’s Office of Health Equity to spread awareness of the initiative and helping create a marketing plan to support driver availability, according to the contract.

“We now officially have a contract in place to provide transportation to and from the county health departments for those who lack transportation resources,” State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney said at the October State Board of Health meeting. “That is a major issue, it’s a major social determinant of health that impacts people getting anywhere they need to go.”

Transportation issues plague rural Mississippi — it’s a major barrier to accessing health care for many. According to one survey, more than 1 in 5 people without transportation missed or skipped a medical appointment in 2022, and people of color and people with low incomes were more affected. 

Mississippi county health departments currently experience a 50% no-show rate, according to Edney.

“It’s fairly routine that at the last minute they just can’t get to us,” he said. 

However, it’s not yet clear how effective the program will be. 

Though it’s meant to ease transportation issues in rural parts of the state, it’s only available in counties with Uber services, which some rural areas don’t have. Also, some studies show that rideshare availability doesn’t have a significant impact on missed health care appointments.

“With Mississippi being a rural state, this initiative will also allow the opportunity for community and economic development by creating jobs,” said Victor D. Sutton, the State Health Departments chief of community health and clinical services, in an email to Mississippi Today.

Edney told Warren County supervisors in the spring that he hopes the program will increase jobs and Uber availability in parts of the state that don’t yet have it.

Uber Health is already being used by more than 3,000 health care customers, according to a statement from January 2022.

Edney said at the October board meeting that the state’s contract with Uber is worded in a way that would allow other states to use it as a template. Health department officials say Mississippi is the first state agency to enter into a contract with the company, to their knowledge.

Uber launched the platform in 2018 to allow health care workers to book rides for patients to and from medical appointments. Since then, it’s expanded to include other services, including prescription delivery.

In recent years, rideshare services have taken interest in expanding to the health care market. Lyft was the first rideshare company to create a non-emergency medical transport program in 2016.

The post Mississippians can soon take free Uber rides to health department appointments appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Despite vowing back in September that he and challenger Brandon Presley would have gubernatorial “debates” — plural — it appears incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves has agreed to participate in only one. It will take place on Nov. 1, just before the Nov. 7 election.

“I am letting the campaign team work on that,” Reeves said at a Sept. 21 press conference. “But I am sure we are going to have debates. We have always had debates.” He said he relished the chance to debate Presley and set the record straight with voters and “dispelling lies.”

In his first run for governor in 2019, Reeves debated his Democratic opponent Jim Hood twice.

In early October, when Reeves announced he had accepted a WAPT TV invite for a televised debate against Presley on Nov. 1, Reeves referred to it as “the first gubernatorial debate.” But it appears it will be the only gubernatorial debate, not the first. It also would appear Reeves agreed to the single debate just days before the election to defang Presley’s claim — and campaign fodder — that he was dodging and “hiding” from the voting public, not because of Reeves’ strong desire to debate.

The Reeves campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about debates on Friday.

Presley had accepted five invitations by various media and organizations for gubernatorial debates during October. He had vowed to debate Reeves anywhere, any time.

Presley this month has attended the agreed-to events that were still held sans Reeves, even bringing an empty chair and taping a photo of Reeves up in mock debate.

On Thursday, Presley’s campaign declared “Empty Chair October,” as Presley attended what had been pitched as a gubernatorial debate in Natchez.

“It’s been 27 days since Mississippians started (absentee) voting and Brandon continues to debate while Tate Reeves hides,” the Presley campaign said in a statement.

Presley said: “No matter how hard Tate Reeves works to hide, I will be out there, answering questions and talking to Mississippians who are ready for a new day in Mississippi come November.”

The Nov. 1 debate will not only be the only debate for this gubernatorial race, but the only one for a statewide office this cycle. Several challengers have accused Mississippi incumbents of debate dodging.

READ MORE: Mississippians deserve timely gubernatorial debate, not fear and loathing

The “Commitment 2023: Mississippi Gubernatorial Debate” will be a partnership between WAPT TV in the Metro Jackson market and Mississippi Public Broadcasting. The hour-long debate will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1 from WAPT’s studio by the outlet and also will be broadcast live on MPB’s radio and television stations statewide and on the MPB app.

Voters are asked to submit questions for the candidates via email to info@mpbonline.org.

The post Despite vows of ‘debates,’ there will be only one for Mississippi governor race appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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Welcome to The Homestretch, a daily blog featuring the most comprehensive coverage of the 2023 Mississippi governor’s race. This page, curated by the Mississippi Today politics team, will feature the biggest storylines of the 2023 governor’s race at 7 a.m. every day between now and the Nov. 7 election.

Longtime Republican politico Henry Barbour, about a month ago in a radio interview, might as well have lit a fuse tied to the backsides of every political operative in Mississippi.

“The way we end up with a liberal governor is that Republicans assume we win,” Barbour told radio host Paul Gallo on Sept. 14. “I’m talking to you on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi … We’ve got to run the score up down there because there are going to be other parts of the state, like the Delta, where Brandon Presley is gonna run the score up.”

Barbour, the nephew of a founding father of the modern Republican Party and a well-connected lobbyist who certainly knows a thing or two about what it takes to win a governor’s race, continued.

“So we need big turnout, we need people to get fired up, to lean on their neighbors and friends. The best way to get someone to vote is not a TV ad or a radio ad, heaven forbid. It’s peer to peer, it’s talking to somebody they know like their neighbor and encouraging them that hey, we’ve got to run because this is important. It’s about the future of our state and our children.”

The speculation Barbour’s comment stirred in mid-September among the Jackson political class was loud and sustained, but the consensus among them: Reeves, facing at least a decent challenge from Democrat Brandon Presley, might not have this governor’s race wrapped in a bow like his allies had been projecting for months.

If Reeves struggles on Nov. 7, it’ll almost certainly be because, in large part, Republican voters weren’t excited about heading to the polls. That shouldn’t necessarily read as support for Presley or for his positions, but the Democrat sure could benefit from lackluster turnout in GOP strongholds — and especially in the three Gulf Coast counties.

Another longtime GOP operative put it this way this week: “I can’t remember a statewide election cycle when a Republican had a tough challenge and so few Republican voters seemed to care.”

So why the dull feelings for Republican voters this go-round? Well, it’s not just this go-round for Reeves. To put it bluntly, it might just be that voters don’t like him all that much.

For three-plus years, Reeves has polled as one of the most unpopular governors in the nation. He got just 51.9% of the vote in 2019 in ruby red Mississippi against Democratic challenger Jim Hood. For reference, Republican President Donald Trump earned 57.6% in Mississippi the very next year. For even further reference, former Republican Gov. Phil Bryant earned 61% of the vote against Democrat Johnny Dupree in 2011 and 66% against Democrat Robert Gray in 2015.

As Mississippi Today’s Geoff Pender and Taylor Vance have reported, Reeves has been sharply criticized in his first term by both the political left and the political right. Here’s what two of Mississippi’s most prominent far right conservatives have said about Reeves’ 2023 candidacy in recent days:

• Chris McDaniel, the state senator who unsuccessfully ran three times for statewide or federal office: “There is an overall unease about everything. There’s some dissatisfaction out there, but not necessarily with (Reeves) but just the political climate … There is a chance that could equate to lower turnout (of conservative voters). Low turnout would be trouble for everyone. Our models are usually based on having good turnout.”

• Robert Foster, who unsuccessfully ran against Reeves in 2019: “While most conservative Christians I know have forgiven (Reeves) for his emotional rather than rational actions during the COVID hysteria, we haven’t forgotten how he mishandled it. He issued many unconstitutional mandates and gave tiny tyrants all over the state unbridled power, and they abused it. They used it to hurt small businesses. They used it to hurt our elderly in nursing homes and our helpless children in schools and daycares. They even used it to close churches for a short time. I for one think a public apology is not only due but possibly necessary for many to consider voting for him to be our governor again and not skipping the race altogether on the ballot in November.”

Presley would argue that low potential GOP turnout on Election Day is not just about Tate’s general likability on the right. The Democratic nominee has spent millions pointing out Reeves’ ties to the very well-known welfare scandal, Reeves’ inaction on the very well-known hospital crisis, and Reeves’ refusal to expand Medicaid to provide at least 200,000 working poor Mississippians with health care. All three of those issues have polled off the charts in Presley’s favor this year.

Meanwhile, Presley is getting what appears to be unprecedented support from Black Democrats across the state. Much will be written about this in the coming days, but Black voters are the base of the Mississippi Democratic Party, period. 

If the recent coordinated work of Black political leaders, pastors and community activists produces the results they’re hoping, and Republicans stay home for whatever reason, the evening of Nov. 7 might be a long one for Reeves.

Headlines From The Trail

It’s official: Democrat Brandon Presley fulfills promise to campaign in all 82 counties

Gov. Tate Reeves, needing to shore up right-wing turnout, attends closed-door meeting with concerned conservatives

Proceed with caution on what 2023 races tell us

Gov. Reeves tours Jones College, talks health care

Fact check: Did Gov. Reeves keep Mississippi ‘open for business’ during pandemic?

$44 million approved for 15 RESTORE Act projects in Mississippi

Port Gibson benefits from Delta Regional Authority’s new investments

What We’re Watching

1) Regarding that potential Gulf Coast problem: Reeves on Thursday announced funding for 15 new projects for the Gulf Coast. Reeves’ administration manages a huge pot of federal settlement funds the state received after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill gutted the Gulf Coast. And in his first term as governor, he has doled out hundreds of millions of dollars for specific Coast projects. It should be noted that any governor would have the power to do this, and Coast-based projects have to receive the funding. But Reeves has masterfully played these “look what I’m doing for the Coast” cards many, many times over the past few years, and it undoubtedly helps him with everyday Coast voters.

2) What’s the extent of runoff preparations being made by the campaigns? Click this link to read about the potential runoff and how it’s being discussed currently, but having to prepare for a runoff while in the homestretch could certainly be a huge distraction for already stretched-thin campaign teams.

3) What about debate prep? Reeves may take the strategy of setting low expectations. In his Neshoba County Fair speech in late July, he actually directly took a self-deprecating approach about his less-than-stellar public speaking skills. Presley, on the other hand, is known in political circles as an effective communicator. How much might debate prep time ahead of the Nov. 1 throw-down on live TV keep the candidates off the trail?

The post Should Tate Reeves be concerned about Republican voter enthusiasm? appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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Baptist Memorial Health Care, one of the state’s largest health systems, and Meridian-based Anderson Regional Health System will merge in January. 

The two faith-based health systems announced the move in a press release Wednesday, though officials did not disclose the reasoning behind the decision. Baptist CEO Jason Little said in the release that he was “excited to join forces.”

“Both organizations are proud of the exceptional care we provide. ARHS has a proven track record of success in this region, and we’re very experienced in delivering care in all types of Mississippi communities,” Little said. “Together, we have more than two centuries of combined health care experience, and we want to use this knowledge and expertise to bring a new level of care to this community.” 

According to the release, the partnership will allow Baptist to serve more than half of Mississippi’s population.

The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Hospitals across the state have been forced to make similar moves to stay open. Nearly half of the state’s rural hospitals are at risk of closure, according to one report. 

Little’s justification of the merger to Mississippi Today contained no specifics.

“A merger will further strengthen both organizations’ ability to advocate for and invest more into patient care and our team members,” he said in a statement. “We believe everyone in the communities we serve will benefit from our alignment with an organization that shares our commitment to Christian values and quality health care. Finally, it will help us preserve care in another Mississippi community and remain resilient in the face of constant change in our industry.”

Baptist, based in Memphis, currently operates 22 hospitals in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. The not-for-profit health system is the state’s fourth largest employer and was recently deemed qualified to host a burn center and deemed a Level III trauma and primary pediatric center.

Anderson is one of east Mississippi’s most comprehensive health systems, and operates two hospitals, a regional cancer center and a network of clinics. 

“As part of our strategic plan to strengthen the mission of ARHS, a partnership with a larger health system provides a number of benefits for patients, physicians and employees,” said John G. Anderson, president and CEO of Anderson Regional Health System, in the release. “By joining Baptist Memorial, ARHS will be stronger and more equipped to meet the needs of our patients for many years to come.”

Anderson will maintain operations with local leadership after the merger. 

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When Ole Miss and Auburn face off Saturday night for an important SEC football game at Auburn, much of the ESPN hype will be about Oxford-born and former Ole Miss coach head coach Hugh Freeze coaching against his former team.

That’s understandable. But if you take one step down the coaching rung at both schools, there will be another intriguing dynamic along both sidelines. Ron Roberts, the Auburn defensive coordinator, once coached at Delta State both as a defensive specialist and then as head coach. Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding first played and then coached under Roberts at Delta State, where they are a huge part of the Cleveland school’s rich football history. The two remain close friends who talk often. Both are very good at what they do and are highly respected in the coaching business.

Delta State, under present coach Todd Cooley, is off to a 7-0 start and plays West Florida in Cleveland Saturday in a 3 p.m. showdown of national Division II powerhouses. Even so, later that evening, many Delta eyes will be watching closely the goings-on at Jordan-Hare Stadium on the Auburn plains.

Delta State’s current success somewhat mirrors that of Roberts when he was the DSU head coach for five seasons (2007-11), and the Statesmen won 10 or more games in four of those five seasons. Delta reached the D-II national championship game in 2010 and the national semifinals in 2011. Roberts, a native of Visalia, California, also spent two years as defensive coordinator at Delta before becoming the head man.

Yes, and during his time as Delta’s defensive coordinator, he inherited an under-sized but hard-hitting safety named Pete Golding from Hammond, Louisiana.

“Pete was just a great player,” Roberts says of Golding. “He was all the things you look for in a safety. He was instinctive, knew where to be and where everybody else was supposed to be. He also returned kicks for us. He was a player who I knew would become a great coach if that’s what he chose to do.”

In fact, Roberts urged Golding, a business major, to go into coaching, and upon graduation, Golding became a graduate assistant to Roberts. Golding then took his first full-time coaching job at Tusculum (Tennessee) University. And this will tell you something about what Roberts thought of Golding: After Golding had spent three years at Tusculum, Roberts brought him back to Delta State where he became the defensive coordinator at the ripe old age of 25.

Southern Miss athletic director Jeremy McClain was the athletic director at Delta State at the time, and he will tell you quickly that Roberts and Golding made his job easier than it might have been. In fact, at the time, DSU was pretty much a factory for producing football coaches, especially on the defensive side of the ball. McClain likens the Delta State football coaches’ office at that time to a classroom with Roberts as the instructor. He taught his coaches to coach and then let them coach.

Another Delta defensive coach during that time was current Baylor head coach Dave Aranda. Still another was Karl Scott, the current Seattle Seahawks defensive passing game coordinator, who coached with Golding under Nick Saban at Alabama.

Says McClain, “It was fun to watch them work.”

Those Delta State teams ran a 3-3-5 defense, much the same as Ole Miss and Auburn run now. The 3-3-5 defense has provided perhaps the best answer to today’s spread-the-field, throw-it-all-over offenses that have revolutionized the game. The defense is known for disguising stunts and blitzes, which can come from all angles.

It doesn’t take a really long memory for Ole Miss fans to know of Roberts’ expertise in that regard. Just think back to Jan. 1, 2022, and the Sugar Bowl: No. 6 Baylor vs. No. 8 Ole Miss. The balks-hawking Baylor defense sacked Ole Miss quarterbacks 10 times, put Matt Corral on crutches and dealt the Rebels a 21-7 defeat.

Roberts was asked in a phone conversation earlier this week what he sees as the difference between that Ole Miss offense and the one he faces Saturday at Auburn.

“What jumps out at you is the running backs,” Roberts said. “They are at a different level. They have a lot of different gears. The quarterback is playing at a really high level. The first thing you have to do is prevent the big play. They make a lot of them.”

It’s funny. Despite his close relationship with Golding, Roberts knows little about the Ole Miss defense, except that, generally, it has improved over past seasons. And he knows that without watching.

“I know they’re sound, they’ll be in the right places,” Roberts said. “Pete’s always gonna do a great job.”

The post There’s a lot of Delta State involved in Saturday’s Ole Miss-Auburn game appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Welcome to The Homestretch, a daily blog featuring the most comprehensive coverage of the 2023 Mississippi governor’s race. This page, curated by the Mississippi Today politics team, will feature the biggest storylines of the 2023 governor’s race at 7 a.m. every day between now and the Nov. 7 election.

Democrat Brandon Presley made a promise in early May that surprised even some people who advised his campaign: He would visit all 82 Mississippi counties during his campaign for governor.

It’s not difficult to figure why a campaign adviser may groan at the vow. Mississippi has a ton of counties. Though we have the 32nd-most land area of any state in the nation, we rank 16th for total number of counties.

There are the easy ones to check off the list, like areas home to major population centers or places you have to drive through to get somewhere else. But in this rural and remote state, there are some counties you really have to make plans to visit. Take Wayne County in southeast Mississippi, for instance, which doesn’t have a major U.S. highway. Same deal with Smith County in central Mississippi or Calhoun County in northeast Mississippi. And you sure have to be committed to the quest to hit Issaquena County, where just 1,300 people live.

Well doubters be damned — by the end of today, Presley will have reached all 82 counties after stopping in Amite and Wilkinson counties in southwest Mississippi.

The feat has certainly been done before, but very few Mississippi politicians can claim they visited all 82 counties during one single statewide campaign. But for Presley, this isn’t about the novelty or just getting to say he did it. It’s a mission that was aligned with a campaign strategy he’s been rolling out since the day he announced his gubernatorial candidacy in January.

“I’m not just going to come to these counties during campaign years,” Presley said in a statement. “As governor, I’m going to come to continue visiting all 82 counties because Mississippians deserve a leader who will listen and meet them where they are.”

Gov. Tate Reeves, meanwhile, may not reach all 82 counties this year, but he has also been absolutely tearing up the campaign trail. He spent Monday in north Mississippi, Tuesday in the Delta, and Wednesday in the Pine Belt. The past few weeks, he’s obviously upped his campaign road time.

It is, after all, the homestretch of the campaign cycle — when rubber meets the road, when you put pedal the metal (or insert your own cheesy road-related metaphor).

Headlines From The Trail

Beware: National reporters, here to cover Mississippi governor’s race, are out for blood

Democrat’s ‘uphill climb’ to governor’s office runs through rural Mississippi

Fact Check: No, Brandon Presley doesn’t support gender surgeries for children

Gov. Reeves used state plane for Mardi Gras party and family trip to coast

Competitive gubernatorial stretch run still favors GOP incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves

Republicans hope Landry’s Louisiana win bodes well for governors’ races in Mississippi, Kentucky

WAPT helping Mississippi voters make a more informed choice for governor

Only hope for legislative Democrats in November: ending Republican supermajorities

What We’re Watching

1) Will the company that sent the Reeves campaign a cease-and-desist letter actually file suit? The Reeves campaign’s TV ad that a Tennessee-based solar energy company says is defamatory is reportedly still airing statewide. An attorney representing the company wrote in the cease-and-desist letter that his client “will pursue all available legal remedies” if the ad wasn’t immediately removed from air. The Reeves campaign doubled down on the ad in response, and several Mississippians report on social media that the ad is still airing as of Oct. 18.

2) Presley’s “empty chair October” tour continues. After he stops in those last two counties in southwest Mississippi on Thursday, the Democratic nominee will participate in an NAACP forum in Natchez. Reeves was invited to participate in the forum but declined. Presley’s take on Wednesday: the governor “is hiding because he is afraid to face Misssippians.” Remember, Reeves criticized Presley earlier this month for agreeing to the NAACP forums.

3) Do the campaigns have any “October surprises” in store? The homestretch is usually when campaigns unload their opposition research. Major scandals, campaign trail gaffes, and other PR problems for candidates tend to bubble to the surface around this time in a cycle. What might we see in the coming days?

The post It’s official: Democrat Brandon Presley fulfills promise to campaign in all 82 counties appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Even though all 122 legislative districts will be on the November ballot, Democrats have no chance of wrestling control from the Republican majority later this fall.

Democrats are not challenging in enough legislative seats to gain control.

Instead, the best the minority Democratic Party can hope for — if they draw a straight flush and win all their races — is to erase the Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate.

Currently, Republicans hold a 36-16 advantage in the Senate. On Nov. 7, Democrats have candidates competing in four Senate seats currently held by Republicans. Republicans, meanwhile, have candidates running in four seats currently held by Democrats.

If Democrats win the four Senate seats where they are challenging Republicans and win the four races where they are being challenged by Republicans, they would theoretically have enough votes to uphold a governor’s veto. If Democrat Brandon Presley were to upset Republican incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves on Nov. 7, that veto-related power would be a big deal. It takes a two-thirds supermajority, which Republicans currently enjoy, to override a governor’s veto.

Democrats, if they are extremely lucky, also could end the Republicans’ two-thirds supermajority in the House. Currently, Republicans hold 77 seats in the House compared to 40 for the Democrats (and three independents). There are two vacancies. But the two vacancies will be filled by Democrats who already have won primary elections and do not face November opposition.

On the other hand, thanks to legislative redistricting, Republicans are likely to win two of the House seats currently held by Democrats who are not seeking reelection. Republicans already have won one of those districts, including District 33 currently held by Rep. Tommy Reynolds. And in the other, District 75 currently held by Rep. Tom Miles, there is no Democrat running. In District 75, the Republican faces only third-party opposition.

In addition, a Democrat could capture the seat currently held by independent Rep. Michael Ted Evans, who is not running for reelection in his east Mississippi District 45.

If the Democrats capture all 12 seats where they are challenging Republicans and win Evans’ seat, they would have 53 members — far short of a majority in the 122-member chamber. But the Republican majority would be lower than the current supermajority. Of course, it is unlikely that Democrats will win all those seats and hold on to the four seats where they are being challenged by Republicans.

House Minority Leader Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, said legislative Democrats in Mississippi have faced numerous challenges this election cycle. The state Democratic Party, Johnson said, didn’t have money to recruit candidates. And they also face less-than-favorable maps thanks to the legislative redistricting plan adopted earlier this year by the Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate.

Johnson called the redistricting plan “egregious” for legislative Democrats.

“We have new leadership,” Johnson said of the Mississippi Democratic Party. “I am looking at this as a marathon, not a sprint. I think we will be in better shape in the future.”

There also are multiple third-party candidates competing this election cycle. Any win by those candidates could slightly alter the balance of power.

But perhaps the most telling aspect of this year’s legislative races is that 40% of the incumbents are unopposed in both the party primary and the general election.

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