- Harmony Ball-Stribling died from preeclampsia complications while being driven to a hospital 25 miles away after Belzoni's hospital closed 13 years ago.
- Her death galvanized local leaders to push for reopening healthcare services in Humphreys County, which has no hospital, ER, or urgent care clinic.
- Humphreys County faces severe health disparities, including high uninsured rates, highest Medicaid enrollment in Mississippi, and elevated infant mortality.
- Reopening a hospital is extremely difficult, with only about five successful cases nationwide, due to financial, staffing, and regulatory obstacles.
- Federal funding of $1 million will expand an existing clinic's hours overnight, but a full hospital remains uncertain due to policy constraints and Medicaid cuts.
- State exemption from certificate of need requirements may help, but the county is ineligible for the Rural Emergency Hospital designation because its hospital closed before 2020.