The way I see it, healthcare in Mississippi works kind of like a roman arch. Created by the Mississippi legislature in a rare moment of clarity, the University Medical Center forms the keystone. To its right and left are St Dominic Hospital and Baptist Hospital. To their right and left are Methodist Rehab and SV Montgomery VA Medical Center. Under these five stones, every other clinic and practitioner, and facility in Mississippi forms the columnar base of the system.
Right now, some of the stones in the base are starting to fray and crumble, but as long as the arch itself is sound, sick people in Mississippi can get the help they need. Real roman arches can last for thousands of years. This one has lasted a little over a hundred. We've tried a few times to build some redundancy into the system, but they always failed. Monitoring and maintaining the strength and integrity of these five stones is probably the most important thing going on in central Mississippi and Jackson.
There was a time when we didn't have this structure, and Mississippians suffered because of it. It's vitally important that our legislative and executive branches work to maintain the stability and strength of every part of our health care system. We don't have a backup structure in case they don't.
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