Spring Faculty Meeting

Good morning.  

During Spring Faculty Meeting this week, I shared updates on several Medical Center topics. Much of the content is important for the broader community’s awareness, so I’ll hit on some highlights today.

I began with a tribute to Dustin Pope, Jakob Kindt and Cal Wesolowski. These three AirCare team members lost their lives on March 10 while performing the work they were so committed to doing. Healing from this terrible loss will be a long process, but the outpouring of support the Medical Center family has received is phenomenal.

I want you to also know that AirCare is now back up and operational; the work of the fallen crew continues.

No Panic Zone 

Faculty meetings are opportunities to share our accomplishments, summarize the state of the institution’s financial health, share accolades for faculty and programs and update you on the progress we’ve made in our Five-Year Strategic Plan.  

I’ll come back to all of that, but first want to speak to a topic that is on the minds of many of us here at the Medical Center: executive orders and funding threats. Threats to funding pertain to federal grants for research, indirect percentage rates associated with those grants and CMS supplemental funding for undercompensated and uncompensated patient care.

We have received notification of termination of funding for several federal grants and sub-awards. Like everyone, we await further information, re: notification of grant funding termination and/or notification of awards. While there is such a degree of uncertainty, I believe the best approach is a measured one. 

Also, there is stated intent to reduce the negotiated indirect percentage rate down to 15% for federal grants. We are projecting what this action, if upheld, would mean for our research mission. Currently, this action is paused. If it moves forward, we will adjust as necessary, making efforts to minimize disruption.   

While no firm plan has been put forth from the federal government, there are conversations nationally about cutting supplemental payments from CMS. This has the potential to be very impactful to us (and most other hospitals in Mississippi) so we are monitoring the situation very closely.  

Because of all of these uncertainties, we are taking a very cautious approach with budget planning for next year.

There are also questions about federal executive orders and new laws referring to diversity. Again, our intent is to take a measured approach. We will follow all applicable laws. And we will continue to prepare our students and trainees to care for all of our patients. It is very important to teach our students to care for patients in a way that reflects our values: integrity, respect, excellence, compassion and professionalism. Treating our patients, their families and each other in a manner that upholds these values is something we must expect and hold each other accountable to.  

Five-Year Strategic Plan 

We are coming to the end of our 2025 strategic plan. The 2030 strategic plan kicks off in July. In this plan, quality continues to be our top priority. Without it, all else fails.

Our five strategic goals for the next five years are to: 

• Maximize value in quality of care 
• Promote clinical access, efficiency and growth 
• Cultivate a vibrant academic community 
• Foster excellence in research and  
• Optimize institutional service areas. 

We have achieved a lot of success and progress under our current strategic plan, even through the tough COVID years. While there is still a lot of work to be done on our key strategic priorities, we are making progress, thanks to the hard work of every single one of you.

Income 

On the good news front: We are beating the budget, due mostly to patient revenues. This is attributable to several efforts – including increased patient volumes and revenue cycle improvements, among other things. In the last few years, we have ended with a positive margin, which is absolutely critical in order to invest in our people, the upkeep of our facilities and growth. Please look back to last week’s VC Notes which was focused solely on our financial picture.

Evaluations and Engagement  

The 2025 faculty and staff evaluation cycle will be open May 1 to June 30. The lookback period is July 1, 2024 to June 30 of this year, and we will use the same evaluation tool as last year. Staff evaluation results will be used to determine merit-based compensation increases.

Our employee engagement survey is also a source of good news. We had a goal of 80% participation, and we achieved 81% – compared to the national average of 68% for academic medical centers. More to come on this.

Cancer Center Campaign 

We have kicked off a $125 million fundraising campaign for a new Cancer Center and Research Institute facility, but we’ll need additional funds from other sources. Our goal is a facility with the all-important National Cancer Institute designation as we work toward a future in which all Mississippians will have access to the highest level of cancer care – without having to leave the state.

During the meeting, I showed a preview of a commercial promoting our goal of providing state-of-the-art cancer care, “It’s About Time.” It is narrated by Mississippi’s own Morgan Freeman, perhaps the most famous voice in America. The response from those present at the meeting was enthusiastic, to say the least. 

Program and People Accolades 

I gave some highlights from each of our three mission areas. Some of these have been covered in the weekly newsletter or other sources, so I’ll mention a few that are new: 

• Dr. Loretta Jackson-Williams, vice dean for the School of Medicine, was named chair of the AAMC Medical Education Senior Leaders Steering Committee and to the Liason Committee on Medical Education as a professional member 
• The School of Dentistry recently wrapped up a very important – and successful – on-site visit by the Commission on Dental Accreditation. Only one recommendation was mentioned in the verbal post-visit meeting. 
• Dr. Harish Chander joined the School of Health Related Professions as their first-ever associate dean for research and innovation. 
• Our effort to get to where we need to be to apply for National Cancer Institute designation continues as we’ve added 13 new cancer-related research faculty members since 2023, with most of them in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology. 
• UMMC Holmes County is celebrating 25 years as a part of the UMMC family. 
• Even as we are experiencing growth to areas in and around Jackson, efforts are ongoing to maximize use of existing space. Construction projects on the main campus are progressing well and are on track to open on time: Psychiatric Emergency Services Unit (Nov. 2025), Adolescent Behavioral Health Inpatient Unit (Jan. 2026) and the Mississippi Burn Center (May 2025, est.). 

Finally…  

Many of the topics broached during the faculty meeting have been covered in previous VC Notes, including updates on the new buildings for the schools of nursing and dentistry, the opening of Colony Park South and other clinical construction projects.  

To recap, I realize we have many challenges ahead of us, but I believe we can meet them head-on and prevail as we move toward A Healthier Mississippi.