Ormella is the Chief Strategy Officer for North Mississippi Health Services, which has seven hospitals and 45 clinics covering a region with over 700,000 Mississippians. Ormella has seen a lot of patients come through their doors and has seen patterns arise with her patients.
"In the communities we serve," Ormella said, "the top causes of death are heart disease and cancer." Ormella says that one of the reasons for this is the lack of access to care for Mississippians. They often see patients coming into their hospitals with uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension and late-stage cancer diagnoses because they weren't able to access the care they needed before it became an emergency.
"If we had Medicaid expansion in Mississippi, then those needing care could actually go for preventive exams," Ormella said. "They could go to doctor visits. Their quality of life could improve." But without Medicaid expansion, there are too many people who do not qualify for affordable health insurance coverage, and therefore cannot get the preventive care that could keep them healthy and out of the hospital.