On the afternoon of January 19th, Dr. Alan Jones, the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs, announced that the institution has accepted the challenge of operating an in-state burn center for the state’s citizens. Earlier that day, the Board of Trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning approved UMMC’s request to establish and operate what will be called the “Mississippi Burn Center.” UMMC’s creation of this burn center at its Jackson campus is a major medical victory for the state’s citizens who need in-state burn care, for in-state medical education and training, and also for the overall public health of all Mississippians.
Last October, when Mississippi’s only burn center, a privately operated facility at Jackson’s Merit Health Central, closed, UMMC leaders promised to help fill the health care void for the state’s burn patients. Over the last several months, the institution has provided burn care to dozens of adults and children. The decision to expand its capabilities and establish the burn center evolved from this initial commitment in conjunction with the Medical Center’s core mission. Dr. Jones asserted, “This move is the natural progression of UMMC doing what we do best—providing complex care to Mississippians close to home.” Dr. Jones added, “Dr. Peter Arnold will serve as the medical director of the Mississippi Burn Center and will lead multidisciplinary teams of physicians, nurses, pharmacists and allied health caregivers to provide expert and high-quality care to adult and pediatric burn patients.”
The creation of a comprehensive burn service at the state’s only academic medical center and Level 1 Trauma Center addresses the need for acute and longer-term necessary care for Mississippi burn victims. Given the complexity of burn treatment, requiring multiple and highly specific specialty coordination of medical care, UMMC is the logical solution. This visionary move should be embraced by Mississippi’s medical community and its legislative leadership. State funding and further facility investment should be encouraged to sustain this noble answer to the public need for in-state burn care. The financial support of UMMC in this critical endeavor by the political and medical communities of our state must now begin.
Contact me at drluciuslampton@gmail.com. — Lucius M. Lampton, MD, Editor