{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/hyde-smith-announces-375-million-help-20-miss-rural-hospitals-sustain-workforce", "HYDE-SMITH ANNOUNCES $3.75 MILLION TO HELP 20 MISS. RURAL HOSPITALS SUSTAIN WORKFORCE", "2026-09-15", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "MS", "Cindy Hyde-Smith", "H001079", "www.hydesmith.senate.gov", "hydesmith", "https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/newsroom", "scraper", "Hyde-Smith Avid Supporter of Rural Hospital Provider Assistance Program, Encouraged Miss. Hospitals to Apply\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today announced that 20 rural hospitals and health providers in Mississippi will receive federal grant funding through a program created to help them sustain their workforces and continue to provide care.\n\nHyde-Smith, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, helped secure the $24.7 million appropriated in FY2026 for the Rural Hospital Provider Assistance Program. This grant program is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which recently approved grants to 132 hospitals nationally, including the 20 in Mississippi.\n\n\u201cI encouraged providers in Mississippi to apply for these funds because I know that every little bit helps in the struggle to maintain services and keep the doors open. This effort is more difficult because of structural payment disadvantages linked to Mississippi\u2019s low average wage index, which is a problem Congress must address,\u201d Hyde-Smith said. \u201cI\u2019m pleased these eligible hospitals availed themselves of these federal resources.\u201d\n\nThe Rural Hospital Provider Assistance Program award is formula-based and calculated by dividing the total available funding ($24,750,000 in FY2026) equally among eligible rural hospitals that apply. As such, Mississippi facilities will receive $3.75 million in total or just over $187,500 per facility:\n\n\u2022 Anderson Regional Medical Center-South Campus, Meridian\n\n\u2022 Baptist Memorial Hospital, Booneville\n\n\u2022 Clay County Medical Corporation, West Point\n\n\u2022 George County Hospital, Lucedale\n\n\u2022 Greenwood Leflore Hospital, Greenwood\n\n\u2022 Highland Community Hospital, Picayune\n\n\u2022 Highland Hills Medical Center, Senatobia\n\n\u2022 Jasper General Hospital, Bay Springs\n\n\u2022 Kings Daughters Medical Center, Brookhaven\n\n\u2022 Magee General Hospital, Magee\n\n\u2022 Marion General Hospital, Columbia\n\n\u2022 Neshoba County General Hospital, Philadelphia\n\n\u2022 Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center, Clarksdale\n\n\u2022 South Sunflower County Hospital, Indianola\n\n\u2022 Tishomingo Health Services, Iuka\n\n\u2022 University of Mississippi Medical Center-Grenada, Grenada\n\n\u2022 Wayne General Hospital, Waynesboro\n\n\u2022 Webster Health Services, Eupora\n\n\u2022 Winston Medical Services, Louisville\n\n\u2022 Yalobusha General Hospital, Water Valley\n\nAs part of her rural health care focus, Hyde-Smith has cosponsored legislation to address workforce shortages, including the Save Struggling Hospitals Act (S.4233) that would codify the Medicare low-wage index hospital policy that increased Medicare wage index values for hospitals in the bottom 25th percentile. Its enactment would ensure Mississippi hospitals in rural and low-wage areas receive fair Medicare reimbursement for the essential services they provide and help prevent closure.\n\nEarlier this year, Hyde-Smith also encouraged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to actively work with Congress on legislation to fix the Area Wage Index (AWI) formula that disadvantages hospitals in low-wage states like Mississippi.", 1, "2026-09-30T10:57:52Z", "2026-09-30T10:59:04Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/hyde-smith-announces-375-million-help-20-miss-rural-hospitals-sustain-workforce"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7903530970215797, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}