Senate rejects amendment that would have let operators reclaim vacant hospital beds; passes broader health bill

The Mississippi Senate on an unspecified date debated and then rejected an amendment that would have allowed operators of hospitals that converted to critical-access status to regain or reassign previously relinquished hospital beds for psychiatric care, and later passed the larger health bill.

The dispute centered on amendment number 2 to committee amendment number 1. Supporters said the change would let the State Department of Health negotiate to reopen vacant beds in areas with unmet mental-health needs; opponents said the amendment would create ad hoc, one-off transfers and preferred a statewide study and solution directed by the bill.

Senator Boyd argued for keeping the amendment in place, saying it would not cost the state and would let the Department of Health “consider these empty facilities.” Boyd said the measure came out of frustration after years of unmet need for mental-health beds in parts of the state: “This bill does not require the Department of Health to do anything other than just consider these empty facilities.”

Senator Bridal, who led the floor discussion for the measure, countered that the state faces a broader, statewide problem and that ad hoc fixes would worsen it. “There is a statewide problem. It is not solved by 1 off solutions,” Bridal said, urging senators to leave the amendment out and let the Department of Health prepare a comprehensive proposal for future legislation.

Other senators described the human impact. Senator Subert (identified in debate) and others said people with mental-health needs were being held in local jails for lack of beds; one senator said the change could open roughly 73 beds in the short term. Senator Blackwell questioned whether current holders of certificates of need would control who ultimately received any reopened beds; supporters said Department of Health approval would still be required.

The Senate first voted to reconsider the earlier adoption of amendment number 2 to committee amendment number 1; the motion to reconsider passed on a roll call (32 yes, 14 no). After further debate the chamber then rejected amendment number 2 to committee amendment number 1 by a subsequent vote; the presiding officer announced that the amendment failed after a count. The Senate then adopted committee amendment number 1 as amended and advanced the larger bill to final passage; the clerk said the bill passed by use of the morning roll call.

Senators on both sides said they want to address shortages of mental-health beds; the disagreement was over whether to include a narrowly targeted authority in this bill or to direct the Department of Health to develop a statewide plan. Bridal said the bill directs the department to study the issue and produce a proposal for broader relief next year. Supporters of the removed amendment said the change could provide faster, local relief in communities such as Holly Springs, Batesville, Houston and Jefferson County.

No statute or regulatory citation was provided on the floor during the debate; the discussion referenced the Department of Health, certificates of need (CONs), critical-access-hospital conversions and the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s teaching-exemption authority as background context.

The Senate’s action leaves the bill (as the chamber approved it without amendment number 2) to move forward with committee amendment number 1 in place and the Department of Health charged in the bill to study and report on a statewide approach to the problem. Lawmakers said they plan to consider broader reforms and implementation options in future sessions.