A New Era of Burn Care in Mississippi

Good morning. 

This week, we marked a major milestone in the growth of our Mississippi Burn Center with the opening of its dedicated unit inside Batson Tower serving adults and children, a step that strengthens our ability to care for some of Mississippi’s most critically injured patients. 

In 2023, we were designated as a state burn center by the Mississippi State Department of Health, allowing us to fill a vital need for expert-level burn care in our state. We are also proud to be one of the few academic medical centers in the country to open a new burn unit in the past two decades. This reflects both the complexity of sustaining this level of care and the advanced resources needed.  

This achievement would not have been possible without the coordinated efforts of our teams across UMMC and the generous funding provided by our federal and state elected officials and MSDH. 

By renovating the space that was previously our pediatric ICU, we created a centralized environment designed specifically for the needs of burn patients and their families. The unit supports a streamlined, patient-centered approach to recovery, improving continuity of care while allowing for greater infection control and better long-term outcomes. 

As Mississippi’s only Level I trauma center, we are equipped to treat the most complex medical needs for patients of all ages. The Mississippi Burn Center is a vital part of that mission.  

Last year alone, our team treated more than 350 patients with burn injuries requiring inpatient care. This new unit is a direct investment in the people we serve and the highly trained teams who care for them. 

We have a strong – and growing – group of hospital partners and we will be expanding our burn-related services now that we have this facility, including telehealth consultations, which will allow us to provide faster treatment and better coordinated care in more communities. 

This progress reflects the dedication and support of many people across our institution and our state. Many people have been a part of making this unit a reality, including Dr. Juvonda Hodge, professor of surgery, who joined us in 2024 as the Center’s director, and Dr. Peter Arnold, division chief for plastic surgery, the previous Center director who got this initiative off the ground. Thank you to everyone’s effort. 

Mississippians are better off today because of this new facility and the multidisciplinary burn team delivering care that is unmatched anywhere else in the state. Together, we are building a stronger, more responsive system of care and moving forward in our shared mission of A Healthier Mississippi.