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Grant funding awarded for development of Internal Medicine residency in Oxford

Baptist Memorial Hospital – North Mississippi received $749,000 in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grant funding for the development of an Internal Medicine residency program in Oxford, MS.

The hospital was the recipient of a Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) grant as part of the HHS mission to increase access to quality care in rural community. The program’s goal is to develop a stronger health care workforce through the establishment of rural residency programs.

“This grant will support critical resources for us to uphold the mission of our residency program, which is to train medically knowledgeable, clinically competent, and procedurally capable internal medicine physicians who provide high quality, safe, cost effective, and patient centered care to the patients of North Mississippi,” said Dr. Seger S. Morris, Program Director of the BMH-NM Internal Medicine residency program.

Baptist North Mississippi is one of only six full-access hospitals in a twelve-county service area. Of the hospitals in the area, Baptist North Mississippi’s bed size is the largest and the hospital offers access to the most number of specialties. According to data provided by the Mississippi Hospital Association, 68% of patients served by BMH-NM in 2016 were either Medicare (50%) or Medicaid (10%) patients, or the hospital was uncompensated for their care (8%).

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi advocated for the release of the funds.

“These grants will allow immediate- and more long-term work to expand rural access to care in Mississippi,” Hyde-Smith said in a prepared statement.

Dr. Morris and other program representatives from Baptist North Mississippi participated in the RRPD Program Annual Meeting virtually and learned more about the grant program’s support structure, requirements, and personnel. It also offered a networking opportunity between the program grantees.

“The RRPD program is proving to be an indispensable resource as we develop our residency, and we look forward to working with their team for years to come,” Dr. Morris said.

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