Lou Anne Woodward, a representative of the Medical Center, asked state budget officials during a budget presentation to continue and increase funding to accelerate the medical center's campaign to achieve National Cancer Institute designation and to support new facilities and programs across the campus.

The request matters because NCI designation provides access to research grants and clinical trials that the Medical Center leaders say are necessary to improve the state's cancer outcomes; the center also outlined immediate construction and workforce needs that rely on state and other funding.

Woodward described the Medical Center as the state's only academic medical center and said it combines clinical care, education and research. "We are the only academic medical center in the state," she said. She told officials the center recorded about $118,000,000 in extramural research for fiscal year 2024 across 369 awards and has more than 10,000 employees and roughly 3,000 students. She said the hospital has 994 licensed beds and that "we are typically full every single day." She also highlighted a case mix index of 2.18, calling it the highest in the state and a sign of high patient acuity.

On cancer, Woodward said the Medical Center has made the National Cancer Institute, or NCI, designation a strategic priority and is launching a philanthropic campaign to support it. "That is a club that we are not in," she said of NCI'designated centers, noting that designation brings research capacity and access to clinical trials. The campaign aims to raise $125,000,000; Woodward also said the state recently increased an annual appropriation for cancer from $5,000,000 to $9,000,000 and that continued increases would accelerate the timeline. She said the center will ask for further state support for a facility at a later date, and that funding would likely come from a mix of state support, federal funds and revenue bonds.

Woodward reviewed several construction and program timelines that state funding has supported or will affect. She said the Alice G. Clark Center for Medically Fragile Children is under construction and will provide 30 pediatric palliative-care beds and is on track to open later this year. A burn center is under construction and expected to open in mid-2025, and an inpatient adolescent psychiatric unit is being converted into space in the old pediatric tower with moves to be completed in about a year. She said the nursing education building is under construction and expected to open in about 15'16 months, and a $40,000,000 dental school tower is planned to open in 2026.

On workforce and education, Woodward said the nursing program is the largest school at the Medical Center with current enrollment near 968 and that the Oxford campus's fall enrollment was about 129'130 students. She said the Medical Center projects roughly 25% growth in nursing enrollment once the new nursing building opens and about 20% growth in dental programs after the new tower opens. She also noted plans to start a CRNA (nurse anesthetist) program in fall 2026.

Doctor Alan Jones, speaking about student mental-health support, described the Unite program, which provides virtual counseling and medical management to students at Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) campuses. "It is a program that offers certified counselors and, prescribing providers," Jones said, adding that any student enrolled in an IHL institution can receive free counseling or medical services through the program. He said officials are discussing sustainability options, including grants or modest student fees, and that the program has seen strong uptake.

Woodward also requested consideration of a transfer of a Department of Public Safety (DPS) property adjacent to the Medical Center campus to the Medical Center, saying the campus is landlocked and the property would allow expansion while assuring officials the Medical Center is not leaving Jackson.

Officials in the meeting asked for clarifications on enrollment growth, staffing and payer mix. Woodward said all licensed beds are staffed and noted that recruiting faculty for nursing and other health programs is a continuing challenge. She gave the Medical Center's estimated self-pay share as roughly 10% to 14% in typical quarters, with short-term outliers up to the mid-teens.

Woodward closed by saying the Medical Center will return with further requests for facility funding when the timing is right and reiterated support for a four-year bond request being advanced by the Institutions of Higher Learning. "We appreciate and feel free to reach out at any time with questions," she said.