5 Questions

Good morning. 

Today, I will respond to some of the questions that have come up recently and repeatedly.  

As a reminder, I review all your submissions to the VC Notes inbox, and each one is sent to an institutional leader for awareness and, in some cases, follow-up. Remember if you are submitting a question or issue for which you would like direct follow-up, you must include your name; otherwise, all of these submissions are anonymous.

Q: What’s happening at the Pavilion? 

A: Several clinics previously located in the Pavilion have moved to the new Colony Park South medical clinics building in Ridgeland, which has received rave reviews from patients and UMMC teams since we started operations there. It’s also nice to have people see that logo from the interstate. 

With this change in the Pavilion occupancy, we are taking the opportunity to refresh some facilities and relocate some clinics that remain to other areas within the Pavilion. For the most part, these are specialty services that benefit from being closely located to a hospital and whose patients typically require multiple visits and coordinate treatment plans among multiple specialties. 

• The retail pharmacy moved near the front door several months ago and isn’t moving again. 
• Also staying put are clinics for wound care, neurosurgery, mammography screening, internal medicine in Suite G, transplant and imaging. 
• Clinics moving from the Jackson Medical Mall into open space in the Pavilion will be pain management, parts of radiation oncology, women’s health, PET CT, surgical oncology and imaging. Also, these Cancer Center and Research Institute-related clinics will move to the Pavilion: lab services, hematology, oncology, infusion and pharmacy infusion.

These moves from the Medical Mall to the Pavilion should start this summer and be completed by Spring 2026. 

Q: Will the pharmacy move out of the Medical Mall? 

A: Some pharmacy services will remain in the Medical Mall after the shift of several clinics to the main campus.  

The current retail/specialty pharmacy on the first floor will still be there, and there will be a residual pharmacy presence on the second floor, adjacent to the lab, to support UMMC clinics remaining in the Mall. As noted in the above response to the question about the Pavilion, the cancer infusion pharmacy will be moving. 

Q: I have noticed increased lighting and police in the stadium parking lot. Will this continue? And what is being done about safety and security in the parking garages? 

A: To the first question: Yes, the recent enhancements to lighting and security at the stadium parking lots – covered in a March 13 memo from Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for health affairs – will continue. In fact, we are currently making or planning to make even more improvements. 

We have added 14 new permanent light poles to the stadium lots to augment what was already there. Installation of the lights – which are upgrades – will start early next week. This process should take two to three weeks, and the temporary lights in the lots now will be removed as new poles are activated. 

On security, we recently added to the campus and parking safety measures mentioned in Dr. Jones’ memo with a new agreement with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to add more law enforcement units on patrol. You should see Capitol Police and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation units driving on campus, in garages and through parking lots. 

Q: Will we have money for merit pay increases next year? 

A: The fiscal year 2026 budget, which starts July 1, is in development, and it currently includes funds to go toward staff merit pay increases. I say “currently” in my response because of the many unknowns on the federal and state level that could impact our financial standing and could restrict our ability to budget for merit increases. Particularly, the Mississippi legislature has not yet returned for the special session required this year to complete the state’s FY26 budget (which includes the appropriation to our education mission), and discussions around changes to Medicaid and to payments health care intuitions receive for provided uncompensated care could have a significant impact on us.  

So, the answer to the question is yes, but we don’t yet have the information needed to complete the plan. More info on this will be shared as it develops and the picture is clearer.  

Q: Why are all the food options from the grill in the Student Union cafeteria fried? We would like grilled chicken and other options. 

A: Since Aramark took over all food services and cafeteria operations in February, they’ve been making several changes and updates to patient and retail food. They are only two-and-a-half months into a huge responsibility, so they’re still not fully where they intend to be in their operations and offerings. The Student Union is an example – changes like those you mention in your question are on the way. 

Our students and others who get breakfast or lunch there should appreciate healthier options that started this week. Grilled options like salmon and chicken are available in different seasoning flavors, and a vegetable of the day will be an option along with starches like potatoes and rice.

Some taste offerings like grilled turkey and veggie burgers and a smashburger will also soon debut in the Student Union. 

Other improvements include a refresh of the coffee and drink station and a pastry station, including muffins. 

Weekly menus for all the cafeteria locations can be found through a top-level button on the intranet that links to the page found here. (I’ve asked for the menu for the Union location to be more descriptive in the future.) 

As I’ve said many times, we want to get food services at UMMC right. You deserve it, and our patients and visitors do, also. We expect Aramark to meet or exceed all the metrics as they promised in their proposal and as outlined in our agreement. So, if there’s something that you don’t think is meeting the standard, please reach out to FoodServiceSuggestions@umc.edu and let us know. 

Thanks for all your VC Notes inbox submissions. Keep them coming. 

Let’s keep working together, moving forward on our journey toward A Healthier Mississippi.