MHA Press Room

James G. Chastain Appointed Chairman of MHA Board of Governors

   

James G. (Bo) Chastain, director of Mississippi State Hospital (MSH) located in Whitfield, MS, was recently appointed chairman for the 2008-2009 Mississippi Hospital Association Board of Governors on Thursday, June 19, at the Mississippi Hospital Association’s 77th Annual Leadership Conference in Point Clear, AL.

Chastain has served as director of Mississippi State Hospital (MSH) since 1993. He joined the hospital in 1990 as the assistant director of communications then transferred to the hospital’s Jaquith Nursing Home where he worked as an administrator. In May 1991, he was promoted to personnel director at a sister Department of Mental Health facility, East Mississippi State Hospital in Meridian – a position he held until his appointment as director of MSH.

Chastain is a very active member of the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA). He has served as president of MHA’s Society of Behavioral Health Services and a member of the MHA Board of Governors, MHA Committee on Legislation and the MHA Executive Committee. He represents Mississippi on the Board of Directors of the Southern States Psychiatric Hospital Association Board of Directors and is a past member of the American Hospital Association Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services Governing Council. He currently serves as an Alternate Delegate to the American Hospital Association Regional Policy Board 4. He is a Fellow designate in the American College of Healthcare Executives and is an active member of several community and educational organizations.

Chastain is a Licensed Mental Health Program Administrator through the Department of Mental Health. He is also licensed as a nursing home administrator and certified as a nursing home preceptor through the Mississippi State Board of Nursing Home Administrators. Chastain received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Mississippi State University in Starkville in 1982 and his MBA from the Else School of Management at Millsaps College in Jackson in 1990.

Bo Chastain and his wife, Connie, have two children, Charlie and Anna Claire. They attend St. Richard’s Catholic Church in Jackson.

MHA Foundation Awarded National Jobs Initiative Grant

The Mississippi Hospital Association Health, Research & Educational Foundation has been awarded a $437,750 grant to help advance the careers of frontline health care workers by providing training to build skills, increase earning potential, and improve the quality of care and services that patients receive. The Mississippi Jobs to Careers Initiative was one of eight selected nationwide through Jobs to Careers: Promoting Work-Based Learning for Quality Care, a national initiative that supports a variety of projects to develop the skills of workers who deliver direct health care and services.

The grant will allow the Mississippi Jobs to Careers Initiative to implement the program in Jackson, Mississippi, through a partnership between the Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce, Central Mississippi Medical Center and Hinds Community College. The initiative, managed by the Office of Nursing Workforce, will be introduced to frontline workers such as nursing assistants, housekeeping and clerical workers from Central Mississippi Medical Center. It will provide them with opportunities to increase their skills in order to reduce high turnover rates and vacancies among ancillary staff, especially unit service clerks, and to improve the quality of care provided to consumers.

Central Mississippi Medical Center will be responsible for developing and defining training curriculum, creating new human resources policies to include career ladders for frontline workers with wage increases, recognition, and rewards, while establishing a work ethic needed to sustain a continual work-based learning model. Hinds Community College will develop courses, policies, and processes to provide classes to staff on the medical center’s campus. Curricula will be developed and implemented to provide short-term, challenging blocks of instruction for the worker to take and apply immediately in the health care setting and to provide certificates and academic credits for learning accomplishments.

Across the United States, 4.7 million frontline health care workers provide patients and clients with preventive and early intervention services, chronic illness management strategies, and long-term and post-hospitalization rehabilitative care. Despite their critical and expanding role in delivering health care, these workers earn less than $40,000 per year on average and have limited opportunities to build skills or advance professionally.

“Our goal through this initiative is to provide work-based learning and career advancement to the frontline workers of Central Mississippi Medical Center. This is an opportunity for staff to receive additional training as well as recognition and reward. Many of the frontline workers are long-time, loyal employees who will benefit from the project for career advancement,” said Debbie Logan, R.N., M.H.A., project director for the Office of Nursing Workforce.

This is the second round of grants under Jobs to Careers, a four-year, $15.8 million national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in collaboration with the Hitachi Foundation and the U.S. Department of Labor. The program encourages partnerships among employers, educational institutions, and other organizations to improve training and advancement opportunities for their frontline workers. Workers who may benefit include medical assistants, health educators, laboratory technicians, home health aides, substance abuse counselors, and dietary aides.

The partnership organizations are working to implement long-term systems changes and test new models of work-based learning – an approach to adult education that emphasizes the employee as learner, and the work process itself as a source of learning. Boston-based Jobs for the Future serves as the Jobs to Careers national program office.

“This initiative allows us to leverage the resources of Hinds Community College, Central Mississippi Medical Center, and the Office of Nursing Workforce to help Mississippians increase their employability while meeting the skilled workforce needs of one of our local health care providers,” said Dr. Clyde Muse, Hinds Community College president.

“Hinds Community College has multiple partnership activities ongoing with Central Mississippi Medical Center. These include nursing, allied health, and short-term and continuing education events. We are looking forward to integrating these new partnership activities that will impact frontline workers,” said Libby Mahaffey, Ph.D., R.N., dean of nursing and allied health at Hinds Community College.

Carol McCullough, R.N., M.N., F.A.C.H.E., chief nursing officer at Central Mississippi Medical Center, said “We are very excited to be involved in this endeavor. Our experience with Hinds Community College and the Office of Nursing Workforce has been very productive, and we are all committed to the advancement of adult learners. Our proximity to the college and the already existing joint efforts make this a natural fit.”

This project is among eight selected nationwide out of two hundred applicants. The eight projects will be implemented in diverse settings, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, and community and behavioral health centers in cities and remote villages. The new grants bring the total number of Jobs to Careers projects to seventeen. A full list of all projects and further information about Jobs to Careers are available at www.jobs2careers.org.

Pearson attends Birthday Celebration for His Majesty the Emperor of Japan

Left to Right: Mrs. Masura Sakato, Joyce Pearson and Consul General Masura Sakato

On December 6, 2007, Joyce Pearson, program manager for the Mississippi Hospital Association’s (MHA) Office of Emergency and Terrorism Preparedness, was invited to a reception in New Orleans, Louisiana, to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. The celebration was hosted by Masura Sakato, the Consulate-General of Japan, who has held the post in New Orleans since 2005. The reception was also a farewell send-off for Consul General Sakato upon completion of his successful appointment.

Pearson received the special invitation in appreciation of MHA’s response and recovery efforts during and after Hurricane Katrina. Pearson and her staff provided assistance to Consul General Sakato in his work to support Japanese citizens in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee. During the disaster relief, Consul General Sakato contacted numerous entities and healthcare facilities in efforts to locate misplaced Japanese citizens in the south eastern states affected by the storm. Consul General Sakato was directed to the Mississippi Hospital Association facility in Madison, Mississippi where Pearson assisted him in his search. “It was an honor to know and work with Consul General Sakato. His passion and dedication for the American and Japanese citizens of the southeastern states were evident during that critical time,” Pearson said.

As gifts of celebration and farewell, Pearson presented an autographed copy of Wyatt Waters’ book Painting Home to Consul General and Mrs. Masura Sakato and an autographed, two-volume set of Walt Grayson’s book Looking Around Mississippi to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.

My Care Matters campaign launched in conjunction with legislative session

Health care is becoming an increasingly political issue – for health care providers, for consumers, and for businesses struggling to provide employees with health insurance. The Mississippi Hospital Association is launching My Care Matters, online at www.mycarematters.com, during the 2008 Mississippi legislative session to help consumers and businesses better understand how issues important to hospitals also affect the general public and the business community.

“In our upcoming state legislative session, there will be much discussion on how to fund the growing deficit in our state’s Medicaid program. It is going to be critical that health care consumers and the business industry in our state understand how the outcome of these discussions will affect the bottom lines of their family incomes and businesses,” said Sam W. Cameron, President/Chief Executive Officer of the Mississippi Hospital Association. “But this new Web site will not just monitor state legislative activities. It will also explain how national legislation and regulations affect consumers and businesses too.”

The Web site is designed to serve as a resource for consumers and businesses to see how state and national legislation affects their access to quality health care. It will also highlight resources to help all Mississippians become informed health care consumers and will track issues pertinent to health care consumers and businesses on the site, including access to care, affordability of care, emergency readiness, Medicaid, Medicare, quality and patient safety, rural health care and workforce issues.

King named Facilities Manager at MHA

L to R – W.C. King, Facilities Manager, and Judith Forshee, Vice President for Education

The Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA) recently welcomed a new employee to their staff, W.C. King. King has been named Facilities Manager for the Mississippi Hospital Association.

King is a native of Mendenhall, Mississippi. He attended Copiah-Lincoln Junior College in Wesson, MS. King was employed at Mississippi State Hospital for 30 ¼ years before retirement in June 2007. He currently resides in Mendenhall with his wife Lucy. They have two daughters, Kimberly King and Kristy Holle. King and his family are members of Crossgates Baptist Church in Brandon.

Beyond Health Care: Mississippi Hospitals as Vital Economic Engines (Regional data)

Regional data divides regions by Mississippi State Department of Health service areas:

Service Area 1 - Marshall, Benton, Tippah, Alcorn, Tishomingo, Tate, Panola, Lafayette, Union, Pontotoc, Lee, Prentiss, Itawamba, Yalobusha, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Monroe, Grenada, Webster, Clay, Choctaw, Oktibbeha, Winston, Lowndes and Noxubee counties

In the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Service Area 1, hospitals’ total impact on the community is $1.8 billion. Over 16,000 jobs are created directly and indirectly by hospitals. Payroll exceeds $851 million for the area. Supply purchases total $790 million and capital spending is $154 million.

Service Area 2 - DeSoto, Tunica, Coahoma, Quitman, Bolivar, Tallahatchie, Washington, Sunflower, Humphreys, Leflore, Carroll, Montgomery and Holmes counties

In the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Service Area 2, hospitals’ total impact on the community is $917 million. Over 7,500 jobs are created directly and indirectly by hospitals. Payroll exceeds $421 million for those jobs in the area. Supply purchases total over $440 million and capital spending is over $56 million.

Service Area 3 - Issaquena, Sharkey, Yazoo, Madison, Attala, Leake, Warren, Hinds, Scott, Rankin, Smith, Claiborne, Copiah, Simpson, Lincoln, Lawrence and Jefferson Davis counties

In the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Service Area 3, hospitals’ total impact on the community is over $3.5 billion. Over 27,500 jobs are created directly and indirectly by hospitals. Payroll exceeds $1.6 billion for those jobs in the area. Supply purchases total over $1.59 billion and capital spending is over $332 million.

Service Area 4 - Neshoba, Kemper, Newton, Lauderdale and Clarke counties

In the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Service Area 4, hospitals’ total impact on the community is over $663 million. Over 5,700 jobs are created directly and indirectly by hospitals. Payroll exceeds $276 million for those jobs in the area. Supply purchases total over $333 million and capital spending is over $53.5 million.

Service Area 5 - Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Wilkinson, Amite, Pike and Walthall counties

In the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Service Area 5, hospitals’ total impact on the community is over $286 million. Over 2,900 jobs are created directly and indirectly by hospitals. Payroll exceeds $144 million for those jobs in the area. Supply purchases total over $128 million and capital spending is over $13.6 million.

Service Area 6 - Jasper, Covington, Jones, Wayne, Marion, Lamar, Forrest, Perry and Greene counties

In the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Service Area 6, hospitals’ total impact on the community is over $984 million. Over 9,800 jobs are created directly and indirectly by hospitals. Payroll exceeds $494 million for those jobs in the area. Supply purchases total over $418.6 million and capital spending is over $71 million.

Service Area 7 - Pearl River, Stone, George, Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties

In the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Service Area 7, hospitals’ total impact on the community is over $1.3 billion. Over 10,300 jobs are created directly and indirectly by hospitals. Payroll exceeds $637.9 million for those jobs in the area. Supply purchases total over $593.6 million and capital spending is over $75.7 million.

Beyond Health Care: Mississippi Hospitals as Vital Economic Engines

Across Mississippi, hospitals and health systems provide access to vital health care services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, serving millions of households each year. Less often recognized are hospitals’ contributions to the state’s economy, including the number of people hospitals employ, the impact of hospital purchases and the impact of hospital employees’ spending and tax payments.

Mississippi’s hospitals annually contribute more than $9 billion to the state’s economy. Economic impact data and other findings are in Beyond Health Care: Mississippi Hospitals as Vital Economic Engines. The report was researched by DataGen, a New York-based health care information company, on behalf of the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA).

“As Mississippi leaders continue to consider the state’s economic priorities and look for ways to create more jobs in our state, they should keep in mind the importance of hospitals and health care to the state economy,” said Sam W. Cameron, MHA President/CEO. “This study shows that health care is much more to Mississippi than hospitals, clinics and doctors. The ripple effect of the health care sector throughout Mississippi's economy is enormous. Hospitals are not only tied to the health of our communities, but also to the health of our state’s economy.”

The research found that hospitals across the state have:

• $9.5 billion total impact on the state economy.
• Operating expenses of $5.2 billion per year
• Capital expenditures of over $758 million per year
• Based on a review of hospital construction projects, hospital physical plant investment, including expansions, renovations and new construction, exceeded over $200 million in 2006.
• 50,260 full time employees
• Payroll of $2.5 billion per year (over $20 million per hospital)
• Average health care employee salary of $39,512 (compared to a Mississippi average of $25,051

In addition to looking at the statewide impact of hospitals, the study breaks down much of the data by regions of the state and by individual hospitals as well.

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A copy of the full report, as well as a link to a high-resolution picture of Sam Cameron, is attached below.

Download economicimpact-fullreport.doc

Sam W. Cameron
President/CEO
Mississippi Hospital Association
Download samcameron4c.jpg (Four Color)
Download samcameronbw.jpg (Black & White)

Steve Lesley named Director of Data Services at MHA

The Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA) recently welcomed a new employee to their staff, Steve Lesley. Lesley has been named Director of Data Services for the Mississippi Hospital Association.

Lesley is a native of Tupelo, Mississippi. He received his BS (1981) and MBA (1990) from Mississippi State University (MSU). While attending college, Lesley was a member of the MSU Basketball Team.

Lesley is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Mississippi State University Alumni Association. He currently resides in Tupelo with his wife, Jenny, and two daughters, Caitlin and Mallory. Lesley and his family are members of First United Methodist Church in Tupelo.

James G. Chastain Appointed Chairman-Elect for MHA Board of Governors

   

James G. (Bo) Chastain, director of Mississippi State Hospital (MSH) located in Whitfield, MS, was recently appointed chairman-elect for the 2007-2008 Mississippi Hospital Association Board of Governors on Wednesday, June 27, at the Mississippi Hospital Association’s 76th Annual Leadership Conference in Point Clear, AL.

Chastain has served as director of Mississippi State Hospital (MSH) since 1993.  He joined the hospital in 1990 as the assistant director of communications then transferred to the hospital’s Jaquith Nursing Home where he worked as an administrator.  In May 1991, he was promoted to personnel director at a sister Department of Mental Health facility, East Mississippi State Hospital in Meridian – a position he held until his appointment as director of MSH.

Chastain is a very active member of the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA), currently serving as past-president of MHA’s Society of Behavioral Health Services and as a member of the MHA Board of Governors. He also serves on the MHA Committee on Legislation and the MHA Executive Committee. He represents Mississippi on the Board of Directors of the Southern States Psychiatric Hospital Association Board of Directors and is a past member of the American Hospital Association Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services Governing Council. He currently serves as an Alternate Delegate to the American Hospital Association Regional Policy Board 4. He is a Fellow designate in the American College of Healthcare Executives and is an active member of several community and educational organizations.

Chastain is a Licensed Mental Health Program Administrator through the Department of Mental Health.  He is also licensed as a nursing home administrator and certified as a nursing home preceptor through the Mississippi State Board of Nursing Home Administrators. Chastain received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Mississippi State University in Starkville in 1982 and his MBA from the Else School of Management at Millsaps College in Jackson in 1990.

Bo Chastain and his wife, Connie, have two children, Charlie and Anna Claire. They attend St. Richard’s Catholic Church in Jackson.

Jim Martin promoted to Manager of MHA's Unemployment Insurance Program

The Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA) recently promoted Jim Martin to Manager of the MHA Unemployment Insurance Program. Martin has been employed at the Mississippi Hospital Association for nine years.

Martin is a native of Dothan, Alabama. In 1982, he graduated from Troy University with a Bachelor of Science in Economics.

Martin is also a member of the International Association of Workforce Professionals. He currently resides in Vicksburg with his wife, Linda, where they have lived for 23 years. The couple has been married for 20 years and has one daughter, Amy. Martin and his family are members of Hawkins United Methodist Church in Vicksburg where he serves on numerous committees.