The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) on Monday announced the agency would undergo a reorganization aimed at reducing administrative costs without affecting its services.
The agency will shift away from its current system of nine public health districts, opting for a three-region model effective July 1.
The nine district offices are in Batesville, Tupelo, Greenwood, Starkville, Jackson, Meridian, McComb, Hattiesburg and Biloxi. No announcement has been made at this time concerning how each district office will be impacted.
Regional offices will be located in Tupelo, Jackson, and Biloxi.
MSDH State Health Officer Dr. Mary Currier said closing two-thirds of its district offices would save $1.5 million in administrative overhead.
“We have reduced district level leadership and our overall agency workforce through retirements, resignations and reassignments,” Currier said. “We have also realigned federal funds to support our clinic and district operations; therefore no layoffs within county clinics and district offices are anticipated at this time.”
MSDH also said the supervision of many county-level programs, such as immunizations, tuberculosis control, epidemiology, disease intervention, and emergency preparedness, will be centralized to relieve some of the burden in the field.
“Adapting to changes in budget and revenue has been a fluid process,” Currier said. “We are continually working hard to determine where more cuts can be made, if needed, and we will continue to monitor and evaluate our programs and services throughout the state.”