UMMC terminates membership with Mississippi Hospital Association

UMMC’s departure from the Mississippi Hospital Association comes after MHA’s PAC, Friends of Mississippi Hospitals, approved a $250,000 donation to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) sent a letter to the Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA) on Friday, April 28, that they would be terminating their membership in the organization. Magnolia Tribune obtained the letter through a public records request.

The letter from UMMC to MHA was signed by Vice Chancellor LouAnne Woodward and Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs Alan Jones. UMMC did not comment further on the matter.

The UMMC letter cites a lack of confidence within the current MHA leadership, raising issue with the organization’s vision and communication:

Please be advised that we hereby terminate the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s membership in the Mississippi Hospital Association, effective immediately. We thoughtfully take this action due to recurring behavior including insufficient transparency around decision making, a misaligned strategic vision and lack of effective communication. While we see value in MHA as an organization, we have lost confidence in the current leadership.

When asked for comment on the development from MHA President and CEO Tim Moore, he told the Magnolia Tribune on Friday that the organization is meeting soon to address concerns.

“We’ve got a meeting coming up to discuss some questions that have been posed. I don’t know of but one hospital that has voiced their resignation from the association,” Moore said. “Until I know more about what’s going on, there’s really not a whole lot I can say.”

Moore also confirmed to Magnolia Tribune that the political action committee (PAC) of MHA, Friends of Mississippi Hospitals PAC, made a donation to the Brandon Presley campaign in the amount of $250,000. Presley is running as a Democratic candidate for Governor in the 2023 Mississippi state elections.

A $250,000 donation is the largest on record for Friends of Mississippi Hospitals PAC. Moore also confirmed that the PAC had approved a $100,000 gift to Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, although he said a check had not yet been cut.

UMMC did not comment as to whether or not the donation impacted their decision to terminate membership.

“The Friends of Mississippi Hospitals PAC has supported candidates that support hospitals, and to our knowledge, Commissioner Presley is the only candidate for that office that has supported hospitals,” said Moore.

During the 2023 session, the Legislature approved, and Governor Reeves signed into law, $103 million in direct aid to hospitals.

RELATED: Legislature Passes $103 Million in Grants for Mississippi’s Hospitals

When asked if the donation had to do with the prospect of Medicaid expansion, a concept Presley supports, Moore said, “It is certainly a part of that but it goes much deeper.”

Magnolia Tribune also asked Moore if the PAC would consider a donation to Governor Tate Reeves, who has opposed the idea of Medicaid expansion. Moore said he was not aware of any plan to do so at this time.

The MHA is a statewide organization that provides healthcare representation for hospitals, wellness and healthcare networks, according to their website. MHA reports that they are comprised of over 100 hospitals, healthcare systems, providers and networks that serve over 50,000 employees.

With the departure of UMMC, and the potential of more hospitals to follow, those numbers will decline.

Past Political Activity of MHA

While a $250,000 contribution is the largest on record for MHA’s PAC, the association has consistently been involved political advocacy. When Moore announced support of a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid in 2021, he noted that MHA had spent eight legislative sessions trying to get the Legislature to act in favor of expansion.

The ballot initiative plans ultimately fell through when the Mississippi Supreme Court invalidated the process to propose constitutional amendments.

MHA has considerable resources at its disposal. The organization’s latest available tax filing from 2020 showed $27.4 million in assets, including over $3 million in cash and $13.3 million in securities. 

That same year, MHA reported $11.3 million in revenue. While it issued $3.1 million in grants to hospitals, the association’s largest category of expense was for salaries and compensation at $4.1 million. Four MHA employees cleared more than $300,000 in compensation and benefits, with President and CEO Tim Moore’s package coming in near $766,000. 

Friends of Mississippi Hospitals PAC Activity in 2019

MHA’s PAC was active in the 2019 election cycle, as well. It made $301,221.50 in contributions and expenditures and closed the cycle with more than $267,000 in remaining cash-on-hand.

Most of the PAC’s gifts in 2019 occurred in relatively small dollar increments, $500-$1000, to primarily support incumbent legislators. The Mississippi Legislature has 174 total members between the House and Senate, with Republicans holding super-majorities in both chambers. MHA gave 83 Republican and 53 Democrat members money in 2019. They also supported 12 losing candidates. 

The four largest gifts in 2019 went to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Hood ($50,000), Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Waller ($50,000), Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert Foster ($15,000), and the Mississippi Democratic Trust ($12,000). One reported contribution to Foster occurred after he had already been eliminated from the Republican primary, but before a runoff that pitted Reeves against Waller. Foster ultimately endorsed Waller in that runoff.

While it appears that MHA’s PAC will make a substantial gift to Lt. Gov. Hosemann this year, he was aBrent from the PAC’s 2019 recipient list.

The Friends of Mississippi Hospitals PAC also contributed to the American Hospital Association PAC. AHAPAC focuses on congressional candidates. In the 2020 cycle, 68 percent of AHAPAC’s giving concentrated on Democrats.

This is a developing story. Sources within other hospitals have indicated they are aware of the UMMC letter. Those same sources have said that other hospitals are also considering terminating membership with MHA, which could come as early as next week.