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The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is evaluating 19 bids from private contractors to provide the state with desperately needed medical staff. 

During a press conference on Friday, Gov. Tate Reeves said the state hopes to put staff on the ground within the next week from one or more of the companies who submitted bids. The federal government will reimburse 100% of the cost for these services. 

More than 2,000 medical professionals have left the field in Mississippi over the past year, and hospitals across the state are at a breaking point. MEMA Executive Director Stephen McCraney said these workers will be able to help these hospitals utilize units and beds they cannot currently. 

“We don’t need to necessarily build a hospital in certain times, we need to fill the beds that we have,” McCraney said. 

MEMA received requests for 1,378 additional healthcare workers from 73 different hospitals across the state. It’s unclear how many of these will be supplied through those private contracts. The requested staff includes: 65 physicians, 920 nurses, 41 certified registered nurse anesthetists, 59 nurse practitioners, 34 physician assistants, 239 respiratory technicians, and 20 emergency medical technician paramedics.

If this staffing level can be provided, 771 med-surge beds and 235 ICU beds would be opened up, according to Reeves. 

McCraney said that there is no deadline on the state’s ability to utilize these private contracts, noting that MEMA still has contractors on the ground from the state’s response to Hurricane Katrina. They will contract with additional private sector partners to cycle out contracted staff if necessary. 

“Whatever it takes to get this pandemic across the finish line, that’s what we’re gonna do,” McCraney said… “There’s only so long that an ICU nurse can stay on target for seven days a week. Gotta give them a rest period, so we’ve factored all of that in, and we’re ready to go.”

McCraney also said the federal government had approved a request for 150 additional ventilators. The state has also submitted a request for 10 monoclonal antibody therapy teams to treat positive COVID-19 patients to try and keep them from being hospitalized. 

Though some requests from the state have already been approved and others are pending, one has been denied: a request for the military hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, and the 550 medical personnel on board to be sent to Mississippi. 

Reeves said FEMA administrators told him on Thursday that the ship served very few patients in New York City when it was docked there early in the pandemic. Still, Reeves said the request was more about the medical personnel on board than the actual facilities on the ship itself.

“We would welcome any of the 550 healthcare professionals that are on that particular facility that the federal government would like to send us,” Reeves said.

The post MEMA calls on feds and private companies for desperately needed medical staff appeared first on Mississippi Today.

As the delta variant of COVID-19 continues its surge across the state and Mississippi’s hospital system faces imminent failure, medical experts and some elected officials continue to urge Mississippians to get vaccinated. Vaccines, according to medical researchers, are nearly as effective against the delta variant as the original strain and minimize the chance of infection and nearly eliminate the risks of developing serious illness.

According to Mississippi State Department of Health data, 83% of the people who died from COVID-19 from July 15 through Wednesday, were unvaccinated, while 17% were fully vaccinated people who experienced breakthrough infections, or infections when someone is fully vaccinated. During the same period, unvaccinated people made up 98% of the state’s cases and 89% of hospitalizations.

View our interactive graph of the vaccination status among people who have contracted, died of and/or been hospitalized due to COVID-19 or related complications since July 15.

The post Data: Vaccination status of cases, deaths and hospitalizations appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Former state legislator Kathy Sykes and Alvin Chambliss, a civil rights attorney who litigated the historic Ayers v. Fordice case, will lead a march this Saturday, Aug. 14, to protest Mississippi’s treatment of its three public historically Black colleges and universities. 

Under the coalition “March to Save HBCUs,” Sykes and Chambliss want to hold the Institutions of Higher Learning accountable for what they say is a broken promise two decades in the making. 

“Since the Ayers v. Fordice settlement, the state of Mississippi has reneged on its obligation and promise to endow and fund the HBCUs in the ‘Magnolia State,’” a press release reads. 

In 2002, the Institutions of Higher Learning, which oversees Mississippi’s eight public universities, settled Ayers, a class-action lawsuit that alleged the IHL board violated the Fourteenth Amendment by not providing adequate funds to the state’s HBCUs. 

Per the terms of the settlement agreement, the IHL board was supposed to raise $35 million for a private endowment for the HBCUs by 2009. 

Nearly 20 years after the suit was settled, the board has raised just $1 million. 

“I’ve been in this fight a long time,” Chambliss said on a July Zoom call, the Mississippi Link reported.  “They refuse to enforce the Brown v. Board of Education decision. They refuse to enforce the Ayers v. Fordice decision. … There are still policies that are harmful to Black students.” 

Chambliss added that he believes the IHL’s current treatment of Jackson State University, Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State University is in violation of the Constitution. 

“These institutions are needed now more than ever,” Sykes said, according to the Link. “Higher education opens the door to a better way of life for Black people.”

The march will begin at 9 a.m. at the Masonic Temple on J.R. Lynch Street, stop at the Mississippi State Capitol, and end at Smith Park in downtown Jackson.

The post March planned to protest lack of funding for Mississippi HBCUs appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said he was moved to post on social media urging Mississippians to get vaccinated for COVID-19 after talking with hospital administrators throughout the state and hearing of their “heroic” efforts battling the coronavirus.

Hosemann recalled traveling to one hospital and hearing about a pregnant woman with COVID-19 on a ventilator. He said the infant was delivered, and doctors are optimistic that both mother and child would be OK. Then at another hospital he heard a similar story, but with the potential for a different outcome — the death of the mother without ever getting to hold the newborn.

“We are the most Christian state, the most giving state money-wise, most welcoming state…yet we are the least vaccinated state” even though with the vaccination “we could protect our families and our citizens,” he told Mississippi Today in an interview on Friday.

Thursday’s social media post wasn’t the first time Hosemann publicly advocated for vaccination. Hosemann, who had the coronavirus in the summer of 2020 and got vaccinated soon after he was eligible, paid for a radio ad that ran in May to honor the work of the Mississippi Guard in responding to the pandemic. In that ad he urged people to get vaccinated as a way to honor the National Guard’s efforts.

READ MORE: Mississippi’s hospital system could fail within 5-10 days. Gov. Tate Reeves says to ‘remain calm.’

As the COVID-19 cases have surged in recent weeks to record numbers, filing hospital beds, Hosemann said he decided to do the social media post this week as another effort to urge people to get vaccinated.

In the video he said medical providers combatting COVID “were all exhausted both physically and financially. This may be the medical community’s finest hour….To determine why this last wave occurred unfortunately we only have to look in the mirror.”

He added, “Please receive the free vaccine. Protect your family, your friends and your fellow Mississippians.”

Hosemann said he and senators have been working on possible solutions for some of the issues facing health care providers. One of the biggest issues is that Mississippi nurses can sign 13-week contracts in other states making as much as $120 per hour. Hosemann said Mississippi hospitals cannot compete with the financial incentive being offered in other parts of the country. He said the Legislature could step in with financial incentives to encourage nurses not to leave the state.

In an earlier session, the Legislature appropriated $10 million to help hospitals add intensive care units and negative pressure rooms to treat COVID-19 patients. He said such a program might need to be revisited.

When asked if he wanted Gov. Tate Reeves to call a special session to address some of those issues. Hosemann said, “I have talked with Speaker (Philip) Gunn. We want to be prepared if the governor does decide to move on this.”

The governor has the sole authority to call a special session.

The post Hosemann urges Mississippians to get vaccine, floats idea of COVID-related special session appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Looking up at the underside of Walter Anderson’s boat, you can almost visualize the miles of water the artist once traversed in his many trips to Horn Island. From this fish-like point of view, you take on the perspective of some of the artist’s favorite subjects. Known for his unique depictions of animal and plant life, looking at the works of Walter Anderson can prompt viewers to see the world a little differently.

As art museums rebound from 2020, seven art institutions across the state are inviting in-state and out-of-state visitors alike to experience perspective-shifting art for free through the month of August.

Visitors can see the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden, Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience, Mississippi Museum of Art, Museum of the Mississippi Delta, Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art and Walter Anderson Museum of Art all free of charge in August as part of Art Museum Month Mississippi.

Go to visitmississippi.org/artmuseums to gain entry to all seven institutions. With your free pass, you can visit one museum or experience all seven.

For travelers who want to do it all, here’s a sample path with stops at all seven participating institutions:  

Start Here: Start out with a visit to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs. Displaying a large collection of drawings, painting and prints by the famed artist, the museum also features the “Little Room,” which was painted floor-to-ceiling by Walter Anderson.

Stop 2: Make the short drive west to Biloxi to see the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, which houses pottery made by George Ohr, the “Mad Potter of Biloxi.” The museum campus includes unique buildings designed by architect Frank Gehry and the Pleasant Reed House, a replica of home built in the 1880s and 1890s by an emancipated African American man. The original home was lost in Hurricane Katrina.

Stop 3: After you have taken in the two coastal museums, travel north to Laurel, home of the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art and the scene of the HGTV show, Home Town.

Mississippi’s first art museum, the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art contains a large collection of Native American baskets, 19^th and 20^th century paintings, British Georgian silver and Japanese prints. The museum also hosts exhibitions of contemporary artwork. While there, pick up a brochure for the walking tour of Laurel’s Historic district, where you might spot some homes that have been featured on TV.

Stop 4: About an hour’s drive from Laurel, the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience, known as “The MAX,” in Meridian is an interactive, modern museum dedicated to shining a light on Mississippi’s enduring creative legacy. With digital and hands-on experiences, visitors take a self-directed journey through Mississippi’s creative roots and culture.  

Stop 5: Head east toward Jackson to take in the Mississippi Museum of Art, the largest art museum in the state. Along with its sizable permanent collection of art, the museum also boasts a 1.2-acre greenspace known as The Art Garden, which includes a splash pad. Currently, the museum is exhibiting the Mississippi Invitational, featuring the works of 42 Mississippi artists.

Stop 6: Venture north to visit the Museum of the Mississippi Delta in Greenwood, where you’ll learn all about the history of this unique region, its landscape, agrarian roots and cultural legacy. The museum houses a large collection of Native American artifacts, fossils from prehistoric times, local military artifacts and one of the Delta’s most extensive collections of regional art.

Final Stop: Make the short drive to Cleveland to view the Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden on the campus of Delta State University. Outside of the Bologna Performing Arts Center, dozens of sculptures are on display, and others dot the campus of Delta State, the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi and downtown Cleveland.

However you decide to experience Mississippi’s art institutions, the art of travel is within reach this August.      

Get your free admission here. Campaign partners include Mississippi Arts Commission and Visit Mississippi.

*Note: COVID-19 mitigation efforts are in place at participating institutions.

The post Experience the art of travel this month appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center is so overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients during the state’s worst wave of cases that it is constructing a field hospital in a parking garage. This is necessary to increase capacity, as UMMC is completely out of staffed intensive care unit beds. The medical center is just one of the many medical facilities across the state on the verge of collapse as the delta variant causes a level of need the state’s healthcare workers cannot meet.

Mississippi Today photojournalist Vickie King visited the facility to view how officials are prepping the area for an influx of COVID patients.

The post Photo gallery: UMMC field hospital appeared first on Mississippi Today.

People gasping for breath in hospital hallways. A 34-week pregnant woman losing her baby because she got the virus. Dozens of patients waiting in an emergency room for an intensive care unit bed to open up. A nurse working eight shifts in a row.

These were among the stories top hospital leaders across the Mississippi Gulf Coast — one of the state’s biggest COVID-19 hotspots — told the region’s business leaders on a Thursday morning conference call. The Gulf Coast hospitals, like facilities across the state, are overwhelmed with patients infected with the delta variant.

“Just a couple nights ago, I walked out of the ER and saw ambulances here that weren’t able to take out patients yet, people on stretchers in the hallways… People were gasping for air,” Lee Bond, the CEO of the Singing River Health System, said on the call. “It’s a matter of time before somewhere in our great state someone goes to the ER and is not able to get treated because we don’t have the arms and legs to do it.”

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 4,412 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest single-day caseload the state has seen throughout the pandemic. This shattered the previous record of 3,488 cases set just two days ago. Physicians say these high daily case numbers will translate to more record hospitalizations in coming weeks.

The situation in Mississippi hospitals is more dire than it’s ever been. Top medical professionals began sounding the alarm this week that the Mississippi hospital system could fail in 5-10 days if the current trajectory of new COVID-19 cases continues.

As of Wednesday, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, patients in an ICU and patients on ventilators were at pandemic peaks.

READ MORE: Mississippi’s hospital system could fail within 5-10 days. Gov. Tate Reeves says to ‘remain calm.’

The Gulf Coast Business Council hosted State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and the hospital executives for the virtual meeting on Thursday to answer questions and spell out to local businesses the seriousness of the delta wave.

Dobbs said the state reported 36 deaths on Monday due to COVID-19 or complications from the virus. Eleven of those deaths were of people under 50, he said. Three of them were in their 20s. Two were pregnant women. All were unvaccinated.

“Had those people been vaccinated, they would not be dead,” he said. “Not only would they not be dead, but they would have not had to go to hospital.” 

About 1.3 million Mississippians are fully vaccinated, which is about 35% of the state. Just a little over 1 million have had at least one vaccine. Mississippi ranks 48th in the nation for vaccine rates. It will take another 1 million Mississippians to get vaccinated before the state reaches any sort of herd immunity, Dobbs said.

Vaccination rates in the Gulf Coast counties, one of the most populated regions of Mississippi, continues to lag behind the state average. Only a little over 33% of the three Gulf Coast counties have been fully vaccinated so far, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health experts continue to stress that being fully vaccinated is the only adequate protection against the virus. 

“The delta wave is uncontrolled right now,” Dobbs said. “It’s really sweeping over us like a hurricane. It’s phenomenally bad.”

Bond said that in his hospital system, a woman who was 34-weeks pregnant and lost her baby while in the hospital with the virus. There is a 27-year-old patient with the virus who just gave birth but has only Facetimed with her baby.

“She made it to the floor, out of the ICU, but yesterday we had to put her back on the vent,” Bond said. “I don’t know if she will ever get to see her baby or not.”

As the top medical professionals warned on Wednesday that the state’s hospital system was days from failure, Gov. Tate Reeves said Mississippians should “remain calm.” During a press event Thursday in the Gulf Coast, he said people should get the shot so they can move on with their lives.

READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves extends COVID-19 state of emergency as hospitals on the verge of collapse

But Reeves’ Thursday plea for vaccinations will not help the state’s hospitals in the short-term. Based on the number of new cases reported Thursday, Dobbs estimated about 300 will need care in hospitals in coming days, and about 93 people will die, he said, based on historical data.

Bond said he had 130 patients with COVID-19 at Singing River as of Thursday. Gulfport Memorial Hospital CEO Kent Nicaud said he had “negative 23” ICU beds available on Thursday — meaning 23 patients were in the ER waiting for space in the ICU to open. The hospital had 95 patients with COVID-19, he said. In Hancock County, it was much the same. 

“We had a nurse in Slidell work eight shifts in row,” said Hancock’s hospital system CEO Wilson Thomas. “We are stretched thin and we cannot really stretch anymore.”

The delta wave still hasn’t reached its peak in hospitalizations. Dobbs expects that to happen in the next three to four weeks. 

All of it, he said, could have been avoided if more of the state was vaccinated. Dobbs and the hospital executives told the business owners on the call to encourage employees to get the vaccine.

Mississippi Today reporter Will Stribling contributed to this report.

The post ‘We cannot stretch anymore’: Hospital leaders on Mississippi Gulf Coast, a delta variant hotspot, share horror stories appeared first on Mississippi Today.

UMMC is setting up a field hospital in Parking Garage B. Let me repeat that — in a parking garage. Over 4,000 new cases a day with a death rate of 2.2% equals misery, pain and the potential collapse of the Mississippi hospital system. While Katrina was a horrific disaster that happened in our faces, the current delta tsunami is happening behind closed doors and in ICUs out of sight. It’s crushing, painful and sadly, avoidable.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Disasters appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves announced Thursday that he will reverse course and not carry out plans to terminate the state of emergency he declared on March 14, 2020, to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reeves had previously said in June that he would let the emergency order expire on Aug. 15. Back in June, the number of coronavirus cases significantly decreased. Today, the spread of COVID-19 in Mississippi is out of control, and medical professionals are warning the state’s hospital system could fail in a matter of days.

In a Thursday morning interview with Gulf Coast television station WLOX, the first-term Republican governor said the state of emergency will stay in place.

“It is a very different situation than two months ago,” Reeves said of when he had announced plans to terminate the state of emergency.

Reeves cited several reasons to extend the order. He mentioned the need to leave in place the COVID-19 System of Care Plan created in part through the emergency order that allows a coordinated effort by Mississippi health care leaders to direct patients to open hospital beds throughout the state. In addition, Reeves said the state of emergency makes it easier for Mississippi to work with other states and entities to garner needed resources to fight the coronavirus, including additional nurses.

READ MORE: Leaders fear what could happen if Reeves ends state of emergency on Sunday as planned

Reeves said the biggest issue facing the state continues to be the need for more health care professionals.

“Our biggest challenge in the health care system is not beds, but staffing,” he said.

The emergency order also allows local school boards to provide paid leave to teachers and other staff for issues related to the pandemic. State agencies are given the same authority through the state of emergency order.

When the governor was asked by WLOX about his recent social medial post complaining about the “angry rhetoric” from many who were questioning his leadership of the crisis, he said, “I really don’t think it alienates people.”

READ MORE: Mississippi lives are at risk. Our governor is hiding, avoiding the tough politics.

He added, “In times of an emergency, we have to remain calm… and make sure our leaders are making good quality decisions.”

Reeves has refused to impose a statewide mask mandate for public schools even as the number of cases among students has surged. He said he believes local school boards are in the best position to make those decisions.

Reeves said the coronavirus was turning “into a pandemic of the unvaccinated” and expressed optimism that the number of Mississippians getting the shot is on the uptick. Throughout the process Mississippi has been among the lowest vaccinated states in the nation and Reeves has been criticized for not taking a strong enough stand on the importance of the vaccination.

The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 4,412 new cases Thursday — by far the highest number of cases for a single day.

READ MORE: Other governors use bully pulpits, incentives to urge vaccination. Where’s Gov. Reeves?

The post Gov. Tate Reeves extends COVID-19 state of emergency as hospitals on the verge of collapse appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The Mississippi Association of Educators and the Mississippi chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians are asking Gov. Tate Reeves to issue a mask mandate in schools.

The plea comes amid record-high COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations this week, in addition to an announcement from the University of Mississippi Medical Center that it is constructing a field hospital in a parking garage to increase capacity.

“We are in the midst of a statewide crisis, and while we would typically defer to local officials knowing their communities’ specific needs better than anyone – we can all agree this situation is markedly different,” the statement read.

“It’s never too late to do the right thing.”

But as Reeves announced he would extend the state of emergency for another 30 days, he also doubled down against any mask requirements: “There will be no lockdowns and there will be no statewide mandates.”

Hospital leaders emphasized Wednesday if the current trajectory of new cases and hospitalizations continues, “we’re going to see failure of the hospital system in Mississippi,” said Dr. Alan Jones, UMMC associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs.

There were 26 children hospitalized with COVID-19 at the hospital on Wednesday. The number dropped to 19 as of Thursday morning. Since the school year began, 1,338 students, staff and teachers have tested positive for the virus and 4,817 are in quarantine, according to the state Department of Health.

The teacher and pediatrician groups cited the stress on the hospital system and keeping children in school as evidence of the need for a mask mandate.

“Educators are happy and relieved to be back in our classrooms, but we are wary of being driven from them again. Without meaningful statewide guidance, school districts have been left to fend for themselves,” the statement reads. “District leaders are scrambling to implement measures to stop the spread of COVID while trying to placate irate parents on both sides of the masking issue with no support.”

READ MORE: Which school districts are requiring masks?

The groups cite Lamar County School District where, as of Monday, nine of 19 schools have been forced to move to virtual learning and the entire district has transitioned to hybrid instruction because of COVID-19 cases.

On Wednesday, elementary schools in George and Greene County School Districts were forced to transition to virtual learning until Aug. 20 due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. Stone High School in Stone County also transitioned to virtual learning for a two-week period, the Sun Herald reported.

South Hancock Elementary School closed the day before.

In the metro area, two school districts quickly pivoted after just several days of school to requiring mask-wearing. Rankin County School District reported 191 students with COVID-19 on Tuesday, the third day of school. Thirty-nine staff members were positive as of the same day, and nearly 500 students and staff were quarantined.

“Educators, medical professionals, parents, state leaders – we all want kids in classrooms. But if our priority is to safely keep our students in schools, we need to do what we can to mitigate the spread of COVID. It’s that simple.”

The post Teachers, pediatricians urge Gov. Reeves for masks in schools: ‘It’s never too late to do the right thing’ appeared first on Mississippi Today.