When the State Board of Health convenes April 9, members should have good intelligence on whether State Health Officer Ed Thompson succeeded in persuading state lawmakers to dole out more money for staffing and general obligation bond authority for a new public health laboratory that Mississippi’s public health system needs.

The date of the board meeting coincides with the legislature’s deadline for conference reports on appropriations and revenue bills to be filed. The 2008 session’s sine die date is April 19.

At the April meeting, board members will likely want more information about the mid-session resignation of Mitchell Adcock, director of health administration. As such, he supervised finance and accounts, facilities and property management, human resources, information technology, public health pharmacy, public health laboratory director Mills McNeill, policy evaluation, and vital records.

With Adcock’s departure on March 21, Thompson reportedly contracted with Mary Jane Coleman, assistant office director for Community Health Services before she retired June 30, 2002, to take the position through June 30, the end of the fiscal year. That vacancy and contract alone would free approximately $27,000 for salary and fringe Thompson could use elsewhere for the remainder of FY 2008.

House Public Health Chairman Steve Holland introduced HB 1602 toward appropriating funding for the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) in both FY07 and FY08. Passed in the House and assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee at press time, the bill would provide $347.7 million for FY09 compared to the $300.7 million the agency received for FY08 through HB 1696 in the 2007 legislative session.

The overall increase of about $47 million, however, would be $5.8 million less in state general fund money — a substantial $21.8 million less than Thompson requested from Mississippi — and an increase of $52.8 million in special source funds collected by or otherwise available to the department.

The state general fund appropriation for public health in FY08 totaled $36.9 million, a decrease of nearly $2 million from the FY07 allotment of $38.9 million. Mississippi historically has appropriated less money per capita for public health than most other states.

Thompson’s request for general obligation bond authority to build a replacement public health laboratory for the antiquated existing facility seems to have gotten a better reception from state lawmakers.

As Thompson had requested, Senate Public Health Chairman Hob Bryan authored SB 2495 to amend Sections 1 through 18, Chapter 516, Laws of 2006, to allow MSDH to build a new high-tech laboratory and to renovate, repair, and expand the Underwood Building without being held responsible for repaying principal and interest.

SB 2495 would create in the state treasury a special fund, specifically the Mississippi Public Health Laboratory Construction and Underwood Building Repair, Renovation, and Expansion Fund. At press time, the bill was in the House Ways and Means Committee. If passed and given the governor’s signature, the bill would be effective upon passage.

In August 2007, Thompson as interim State Health Officer presented the FY09 budget request to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. Requesting an extra $16 million for state money, he said then, would enable MSDH to hire new staff for counties and districts — 87 percent for direct-care positions and 12 percent for support staff — and only 1 percent for the central office. The extra $16 million in state funding would have comprised only about 15 to 20 percent of the department’s whole budget, the bulk coming from federal grants and fees.

But the appropriations bill as passed from the House to the Senate is $5.8 million less than actually appropriated for FY08 and provides for less staffing in every category:

• 1,552 full-time permanent posts in FY09 versus 1,603 in FY08.
• 20 part-time permanent posts in FY09 versus 21 in FY08.
• 652 full-time time-limited posts in FY09 versus 839 in FY08.
• 10 part-time time-limited posts in FY09 versus 11 in FY08.

Mississippi Medical News reported in February that public health advocates question the level of pay for central office managers. They want to see reports on the department’s staffing levels, salaries and contract pay for central office, district, and county management jobs before the state lawmakers approve a spike in funding. Under his tenure from 2003 to 2007, ousted State Health Officer Brian Amy moved $1.5 million of salary funds from the districts to central office pay for top-level positions. Thompson has emphatically denied overstaffing at the central office level.

April 2008

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