Months after Mississippi lawmakers approved a $103.7 million grant program to support the state's struggling hospitals, it turns out that many of them will be ineligible for such funds, according to an Oct. 3 Mississippi Today report.
That's because lawmakers erred in writing the statute, according to State Health Officer Daniel Edney, MD.
The funding source for the grant program, decried as insufficient by many at the time of its approval, was changed during the legislative process from the state's general fund to federal COVID-19 relief dollars, according to the report. Because many of the state's hospitals had already claimed pandemic relief funds, they became ineligible for the grant money.
Seventy-five Mississippi hospitals, about two-thirds of the state's facilities, have applied for the money. Only half of those that applied will likely receive any funds, the report said.