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WJTV 12
Construction of Center for Medically Fragile Children underway
By Malaysia McCoy,
11 hours ago
JACKSON, Miss. ( WJTV ) – Construction is underway for a center in Mississippi for children with complex medical conditions.
The Alyce G. Clarke Center for Medically Fragile Children will be located in a wooded lot off Eastwood Drive in Jackson. The first and only such facility in Mississippi, the home will serve patients younger than 19 who need skilled care because of the complexity of their medical conditions.
The need for a facility for medically fragile children in the state was recognized in the late 2010s, when Children’s of Mississippi had several patients with long-term complex care needs.
“For long-term residents, this will feel like a home,” said Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). “They won’t feel like they are in a hospital, even though they will be provided with the same level of care.”
Children’s of Mississippi is the pediatric arm of UMMC that includes the state’s only children’s hospital. Clarke, a former state representative and the first African American woman to serve in the Mississippi Legislature, was a key advocate for the project.
The 20-bed facility will have two wings with a common area that will serve as a living room space.
Patients at the center will range from newborns who may not have been able to wean off ventilators and need an additional 60 to 90 days to adolescents 19 or younger recovering from accidents or living with conditions that require skilled nursing care.
The Alyce G. Clarke Center for Medically Fragile Children is shown in this architectural rendering. (Courtesy: UMMC)
The center will also be a place where parents can learn how to care for their medically fragile children before taking them home, Jones said.
In 2019, the Mississippi Legislature created the Alyce G. Clarke Center for Medically Fragile Children and issued $12.5 million in bonds to the center the same year. An additional $2 million in bonds were issued in 2020.
Ground was broken on the project in December 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the project. The center’s construction, which started this spring, is expected to be completed by fall 2025.
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