Mississippi State Hospital Case Study Summary

At the beginning of the research effort, the researcher developed the question, “Does the lack of funding for the Mississippi State Hospital affects its services? If so, how?” According to the administrative staff’s answers to the interview questions and the researcher’s interpretation of the primary data, yes, the lack of funding for the MSH did affect its services. As stated earlier, the researcher hypothesized, that resource insufficiency would cause programs, as well as jobs to be eliminated. The researcher also assumed that downsizing the program by cutting the number of beds in operation would cause the hospital to admit fewer patients, causing patients to have to wait longer to receive the proper care that they needed. Consequently, full-time staff would be in jeopardy of becoming part-time employees or having no job at all. Primary data has revealed that MSH was able to absorb some budget cuts over the years, but the cuts resulted in the downsizing of programs, fewer employees, and a reduction in service offered through the state. However, the recent budget cut for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, was detrimental to the programs. As a result, resource insufficiency has caused two programs to close down.
The Medical Psychiatric Program stopped admitting patients and closed 29 beds that served 66 people in FY 2015. The Male Chemical Dependency Unit stopped accepting patients and closed all 42 beds that served 429 people. If these programs were planned to operate in FY 2017, they could serve similar numbers of individuals. Unfortunately, the closure of these services means hundreds of people in need will go without them. Also, primary data revealed that quite a few job positions were terminated as a result of these closures. However, it was stated that several alternatives are available for patients in need of mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities and substance use disorders; as well as employees who lost their jobs. Patients will be serviced through community mental health centers and hospitals that offer inpatient care, such as University Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) and St. Dominic’s Hospital. Male chemical dependency patients will also be referred to community mental health centers. Nevertheless, it was stated that although there are alternatives, they come with a fee; whereas, some patients did not have to pay a fee before because of court-ordered services. Also with limited beds in primary care hospitals, patients will begin to experience longer wait times to access the services needed. Ezekiel 16:49 states, “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: she and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy (NKJV).” Even though an alternative to the problem was recommended, it is God’s desire for people to be mindful of the poor and needy. Quite a few people in need of these services, as well as family members, and the community will still suffer as a result of the alternatives that were offered. Indeed, the case study findings concurred with the secondary/universal sources on the research topic.
The findings confirmed that MSH did experience budget cuts within the last five years. The researcher viewed the budget data and calculated the amount of the total reductions. Interestingly, after evaluating the impact of the budget cuts the data revealed that: FY 2013 the budget was cut by $2,772,137; FY 2014- $797,311(State of Mississippi, 2016); FY 2016- $583,811; and the recent largest cut, FY 2017- $3,324,349 (Mississippi State, 2016). Secondary sources also reinforced that MSH’s services were tremendously affected by the cuts, two programs were closed on June 30, 2016. Also, 80 jobs were eliminated as a result of resource insufficiency (Gates,
2016). In the article “The Most Difficult Budget Year” the author stated that 44 states and the District of Columbia experienced a great reduction in their budgets. As a result of these cuts, the non-Medicaid mental health programs, and substance abuse treatment have suffered a great deal. In Ohio, many consumers had longer wait times for services. In Washington State, one of the community health centers had to close which resulted in fewer patients and approximately 700 staff positions were eliminated (Edwards, 2011). Moreover, the researcher’s findings will contribute to the existing base of knowledge on funding and the lack thereof, for behavioral health programs.