Southern Miss Health Access Collaborative Open House Oct. 28

In celebration of the success of the Educate, Enroll, Empower (E³) Health Initiative, The University of Southern Mississippi's School of Social Work will host an open house at its downtown Hattiesburg location on Friday, Oct. 28 from 9-10:30 a.m.

E³, a partnership between the City of Hattiesburg and the School of Social Work, aimed to reduce the number of uninsured children and families in Hattiesburg by providing in-person enrollment assistant. In October 2014, the City of Hattiesburg's offered its first mobile healthcare enrollment sites.

During the open house, located at 301 W. Pine Street, Mayor Johnny DuPree will thank community partners who supported the program's efforts and recognize the continued contributions of the Mississippi Health Access Collaborative (MHAC) and the Kids Health Access Collaborative (KHAC).

“The program was an effort to make Hattiesburg children and families stronger, healthier, and more prepared for opportunities ahead,” said DuPree.

The model developed and implemented by E³ Program Coordinator Kathryn Rehner proved successful in increasing health access in the target area by 89.6 percent with a 65.8 percent growth in Medicaid/CHIP enrollment.

“The E³ Health Initiative ended in June 2015 but left behind a legacy of health access sustainability, said Rehner. “The ripple effect from the City of Hattiesburg's E³ Health Initiative success has resulted in roughly 2 million dollars for health access programming for south Mississippi.”

The E³ program model has been replicated and expanded through two new grant funded programs out of the School of Social Work – MHAC and KHAC.

MHAC is one of two Navigator programs in Mississippi. MHAC serves the 24 southernmost counties of the State with the goal of building sustainable access to health coverage for vulnerable and underserved citizens through Medicaid/CHIP and Marketplace enrollment and education.

The School of Social Work also secured a $910,000 grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for KHAC. Out of 200 eligible applicants, Southern Miss and the E³ model was one of 38 recipients nationwide to receive funding.

KHAC will target uninsured children and families in State Public Health District 8, which includes Covington, Forrest, Greene, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Marion, Wayne, and Perry counties. The goal of KHAC is to enroll approximately 700 adults and 1,730 children in the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

For more information about the School of Social Work in the Southern Miss College of Health, visit www.usm.edu/socialwork.