MSU-Meridian adds two new healthcare schools downtown
May 20—The Meridian campus of Mississippi State University continues to grow its footprint in healthcare education with the state college board approving MSU's proposal to establish two new schools in Meridian.
During a meeting last week, the Board of Trustees of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning approved plans for a School of Health Professions and a School of Nursing on MSU-Meridian's Riley Campus, located on Fifth Street in downtown.
MSU officials acknowledged the approval as a bold move in addressing the state's critical personnel shortages in the healthcare sector.
"I am grateful to the Board of Trustees for recognizing the vital partnership between MSU, the regional medical community and the civic and governmental leadership in Meridian and Lauderdale County that will transform healthcare opportunities and the quality of life throughout our state," MSU President Mark E. Keenum said in a university news release. "This is the realization of a vision for this community that will endure and grow."
MSU-Meridian has worked to transform itself into a regional leader in health care education following the establishment a few years ago of the Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree program at the Riley Campus. Since then, the college board has granted approval for the state's first accelerated master's graduate entry nursing program to be located on the campus, which will admit its first students this August.
In addition to these two programs are MSU-Meridian's new doctoral degree in psychology — its first doctoral program — and a new bachelor's degree in health care administration.
"The approval of these two new schools at MSU-Meridian bolsters this land grant university's mission of caring for underserved populations," said MSU-Meridian Administrative Head of Campus Terry Dale Cruse in a prepared statement. "At a time when the healthcare industry struggles to fill crucial roles, MSU-Meridian is positioning students to be tomorrow's quality, committed practitioners."
Cruse said he appreciates the college board's support of MSU-Meridian and its faculty and staff's efforts to tackle healthcare disparities throughout the state. He added that the two new health-related schools will build upon the groundwork MSU has begun and will contribute to future expansion, "ensuring that our efforts will have a profound and lasting impact on our state's most vulnerable populations."
Meridian has long been a medical hub for patients from east Mississippi and west Alabama. It is served by two large hospitals, Baptist Anderson Regional Medical Center and Ochsner Rush Medical Center, along with their networks of hospitals and clinics. Meridian is also home to East Mississippi State Hospital, which provides mental and behavioral health care for area residents, and Alliance Health Center, which provides psychiatric and substance abuse treatment.
Several years ago, community leaders teamed up with MSU officials and local philanthropic partners, including The Riley Foundation, to expand healthcare offerings at MSU-Meridian, recognizing the economic impact the healthcare industry has on the community and the growing need for trained medical workers.
Becoming a School of Nursing will align MSU with its colleagues at other universities and colleges in the state, said Dean of Nursing Mary Stewart, who will lead the School of Nursing.
"A school provides the infrastructure for faculty, student and program growth, leading to better health care for Mississippi," she said.
Harold Jones, interim dean of health sciences on the Riley Campus, said approval of the two new schools marks another milestone in the development of the Riley health campus.
"This is an integrative move that will provide an administrative structure for these programs and future planned programs that will significantly contribute to the number and quality of health care professionals in our state and region," said Jones, who also serves as interim associate vice provost for health sciences.
Dean emeritus of the School of Health Professions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jones served as a consultant in drafting MSU's feasibility study and plan to identify and launch the Master of Science in Nursing and healthcare administration programs.
Said Jones, "The presence of the new schools provides an infrastructure to support existing health programs and will serve as a launchpad for future health programs and initiatives which will grow the Riley Campus and its impact on the healthcare need of the region."
Contact Glenda Sanders at gsanders@themeridianstar.com.
