Physicians, nurse practitioners at odds over bill

JACKSON — Some Mississippi physicians and nurse practitioners are at odds over a bill that would change the way they work together.

The House bill would delete a regulation that the advanced-practices nurses enter into a collaborative agreement with a physician located within 15 miles. A hearing on the proposal was held Tuesday at the Capitol.

According to the Mississippi Nurses Association, there are 2,000 nurse practitioners who fill the void particularly in rural areas like Issaquena and Sharkey counties, which have no physicians.

Dr. Tim Alford of Kosciusko, president of the Mississippi State Medical Association, says the current arrangement provides needed clinical oversight.

House Public Health Committee Chairman Steve Holland has urged the doctors and nurses to reach a compromise.

The bill is House Bill 605.

One Response to “Physicians, nurse practitioners at odds over bill”

1. Jerry Keever Says:
   January 19th, 2011 at 8:03 pm

   The information regarding Sharkey & Issaquena counties in this artlicle is incorrect. Sharkey & Issaquena counties are served actively by 3 physicians and 2 nurse practitioners from two rural health clinics based on the campus of the Sharkey-Issaquena Community Hospital in Rolling Fork.

   In addition, the Emergency Department at the Sharkey Issaquena Hospital is staffed with physicians 100% of the time. The are no current or anticipated physician staffing issues that would make the utilization of a practitioner in this capacity an option.

   Please forward this to the writer of the above article, so this error and misrepresentation of these two counties can be rectified. The Nurses’ Association can try to gain their political support by “stepping on the back” of some other place, not mine!

   Jerry Keever, MBA
   Administrator
   S-I Hospital
   662-873-4395