June 8 proclaimed Jaquith Nursing Home Day in Mississippi

Left to right: Dr. Murphy Adkins, Rankin County Chancery Clerk; Larry Swales, president, Rankin County Board of Supervisors; Representative John Moore (House District 60); Dr. Randy Hendrix, executive director, Mississippi Department of Mental Health; Senator Dean Kirby (Senate District 30); Carlo Martella, mayor, City of Brandon; Diana Mikula, assistant director, Mississippi State Hospital; Marc Lewis, director, Jaquith Nursing Home; Debbie Ferguson, assistant director, Mississippi State Hospital; Roger McMurtry, bureau chief, Bureau of Mental Health, Mississippi Department of Mental Health; Ed LeGrand, deputy executive director, Mississippi Department of Mental Health; and James G. Chastain, director, Mississippi State Hospital.

Thirty years of caring for Mississippians has been recognized by Governor Haley Barbour in the form of an official proclamation, marking June 8, 2006, as Jaquith Nursing Home Day in Mississippi. Officials in Rankin County followed suit marking the day as Jaquith Nursing Home Day in Rankin County.

Approximately 300 people attended a 30th anniversary celebration on Jaquith Nursing Home’s Whitfield campus. Senator Dean Kirby (R-Rankin) represented Governor Barbour, and Rankin County was represented by Larry Swales, president, Rankin County Board of Supervisors.

“Today we celebrate our successes from the past 30 years and look ahead to the future of Jaquith Nursing Home and the many things that are still left to be accomplished,” said Marc Lewis, director, Jaquith Nursing Home.

The celebration was highlighted by the release of 200 Painted Lady butterflies which symbolize renewal and re-birth.

History of Jaquith Nursing Home

Jaquith Nursing Home was founded in 1976 by Dr. William L. Jaquith and James C. “Jimmy” Stubbs. In 1975, Jaquith, director of Mississippi State Hospital, left MSH after 26 years of service. He went on to become the executive director of the newly formed Mississippi Department of Mental Health and Stubbs was named his successor at the hospital.

Both of these men demonstrated unconditional and unyielding compassion for people who could not care for themselves. They worked hard to establish a nursing home on the MSH campus to provide care for the hospital’s aging patients who would not receive the care they needed if released back into the community.

Calling Whitfield his “one true love,” Dr. Jaquith, at his own request, lived out the last years of his life as a resident in the nursing home after suffering a stroke. Dr. Jaquith died in 1990, and the nursing home, now named in his honor, is the largest nursing home in Mississippi with 479 beds.

Jaquith Nursing Home is managed by Mississippi State Hospital, but is separately licensed and accredited. In June 2001, after many years of hard work, Jaquith Nursing Home earned full accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and is one of only seven accredited long-term care facilities in Mississippi. This monumental achievement proved the nursing home’s commitment to providing the highest standards of care.

And though it is located on the same campus as the mental health facility, Jaquith Nursing Home is not a psychiatric nursing home. It operates as a community nursing home, providing a safe and supportive environment for anyone in need of long term care. Partnering with Mississippi State Hospital allows the nursing home to provide residents with a variety of services and amenities. Around-the-clock security and physician care; on-site pharmacy and hospital; pastoral care; beauty/barber service; and recreational activities of all kinds help meet the needs of every resident and make them feel at home.

For more information about Jaquith Nursing Home, call 351-8015 or visit www.msh.state.ms.us/jnh.