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Jackson, Mississippi The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) announces new county clinic hours effective February 1, 2016. Most services will still be offered, but not necessarily on a daily basis.
MSDH will no longer be enrolling new maternity patients, as patients now have other options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid Managed Care.
According to State Health Officer Dr. Mary Currier, “Over the past few years patient flow has seriously declined throughout the state, and with that, so has our incoming revenue. For many months now we have been reviewing clinic hours, patient flow, and current services.”
Currier adds, “ Like any other business, we’ve had to face the current environment and come up with a different way of doing business while continuing to provide core public health to all Mississippians. “
Reductions in staff include approximately 35 full time employees and 29 contract workers. With these changes, nine county health departments will be permanently closed due to a very limited number of people using their services or as a more efficient way to utilize staff.
“We are continuing to evaluate our programs and clinics to ensure the most effective and efficient use of our funds. While still providing standard services such as immunizations, disease investigation and inspections of restaurants, child care facilities, hospitals, on-site wastewater and others on a daily basis, we will move toward prevention-oriented activities such as diabetes self-management, tobacco and chronic diseases prevention,” Currier explains.
Below is information about new clinic schedules and hours. Services such as immunizations, family planning, WIC, the Perinatal High Risk Management Program, and the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Program may have different days or hours for their services.
