Jackson Jambalaya

I guess this is the kind of situation you get into when a bunch of admin w/ "Masters in hospital administration" are allowed to run a hospital and make decisions

Is the legislature going to ever hold UMMC accountable for this wasteful spending and poor performance with every endeavor?

Aww man, where am I gonna bench press after my morning Chick Fil A run?

Bet you can get a GREAT deal on some used exercise equipment!

@9:51p - No.

Mission creep. Get back to medicine and leave the other sparkly things to the private sector.

Well done Wayne..go back to selling water

Billions wasted in "higher education" and squandered throughout pet projects that do not serve Mississippi. OM is at the top of the list where a river of money flows to nowhere except into their pockets.

I hope Planet Fitness moves into the location. I refuse to visit the Slums of Pearl for a cheap work out.

A large gym in Brandon is never going to work. A Whataburger or Arby’s would do great, but not a gym.

Rest assured, this acquisition did not happen without the knowledge and blessing of the governor. This will go down in history as the second dumbest acquisition by a state entity under Phil Bryant's reign. The dumbest will be the pending acquisition of the Eudora Welty library.

8:42...Masters? Universities are printing all sorts of PhD's in administration now. There are "doctors" running around all over the place.

Did anybody ever post who this bail out was supposed to bail out? Its always about who you know.

What we really is another fried chicken place. Is there a large exhaust fan at this place?

The robot detector is getting ridiculous again.

Rest assured that 7:10 AM hasn't a clue about this transaction.

Brandon needs a Mexican restaurant. Or a gas station. Or a giant title loan.

To say the crap management on North State Street sabotaged the Courthouses is an understatement.

Brandon club was open 24 hours when purchased. That is the trend in fitness centers, right? Nope. UMMC lawyers said get rid of the 24 hour feature.

Tanning beds were bringing in $100-200,000 per year. Got rid of them. PT Clinics and Massage therapists were leasing space from Courthouses. Lease means revenue. UMMC said nope, don't do that, and got rid of them. They handcuff the manager over what was the last two fitness centers. He has to hire managers with little or no experience because UMMC won't approve paying for a real manager.

Did I mention state employee discounts? Yup. State employees pay half the membership fees of private sector members. Shocker. Cut the margins and act surprised when you lose money. Of course, the fees charged for a private family membership are the same as Baptist or The Club even though the facility is no where near as nice nor have the same offerings.

As I wrote, Crap management at UMMC, starting with Kevin Cook.

Baptist and St. D's run successful wellness centers so I don't know that this is necessarily mission creep. What I do know is that UMMC doesn't operate financially the same way as those private healthcare facilities. Nor do the State or IHL know anything about running a (teaching) hospital - which is why UMMC is consistently underfunded and consequently cannot absorb the operational costs of the wellness centers. If I remember correctly the original transaction was not a cash purchase but a combination of tax breaks for gifts in exchange?

Wasn't there some type of sweetheart deal between Johnny Black Sr. (owner of the Courthouses and father of state rep candidate Johnny Black Jr.) and some high up UMMC person to make this deal in the first place?

Dumber than the Jackson Medical Mall?

Kingfish, please remind us of the specifics of the sale of the Courthouse to UMMC. Seems like I remember they were "odd"...

Yep @ 10:44

This was a scam, pure and simple. Johnny Black was swimming in debt and got the TAXPAYERS to bail him out by “buying” his six fitness centers for right at $10,000,000 and letting him walk away debt-free and with a tax write off to boot. He even got to be recognized as a big-time donor to Ole Miss, Lamar Adams-style.

Now, less than five years later, all but one of the fitness centers has closed.

Someone should go to jail.

UMMC is again in financial trouble because they “over promised’ on the amount of revenues providers would bring in for the fiscal year. They are now “quietly” firing providers who are not producing revenue while the fat cats in Administration keep pocketing 500k plus salaries. But, just like last year, they do not want the state legislature to know UMMC cannot adequately manage their finances. It seems pretty simple, your expenses should not exceed your revenue. Not sure how consistently empty clinics can can bring in revenue but no worries the administrative office are packed to the gills with highly paid people bringing in exactly ZERO revenue.

About time.
That place was horrible!

@2:11pm You're getting warmer, hot, hot! Word got out that UMMC didn't contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield so you're going to pay a lot more now if you go to UMMC. Dumbasses run UMMC, and yes starting with Kevin Cook. He has lots of brains, but no balls. Leadership is required when a ship is in a storm, especially a financial one. He's just cruising until he figures out his next gig....probably wants to be closer to home anyway (New York state).

4:49... UMMC has a contract with BCBS meaning they are in-network. I know, I spend a lot of time there.

The sweetheart deal to pay top dollar for these stinky gyms was negotiated while Jimmy Keaton was in charge as Vice Chancellor. The move, like others at the time, was done from the hip without much analysis.

So has John Black continued to pay UMMC the agreed upon $500,000 annually (for 10 years)?

The Lakeland Courthouse was undeniably better in the 90's and last decade when great, God like men such as Gordon Weir and Paul Lacoste were there to keep it up. The only hope it has now - bring back at least one of these legends! Or watch it crumble into dust by the end of the year.

4:49... UMMC has a contract with BCBS meaning they are in-network. I know, I spend a lot of time there.

Interesting that the general public hasn't heard this.....maybe they'd like to know.

They are still paying the half mill a year.


Lacoste was part of the problem. He and his idiot, now ex wife, ran off the best manager the place ever had. She would probably come back but Cook is too damn cheap to pay for talent where it can benefit umc.

St. Dominic was mentioned as having a fitness center. They also have a basement level cafeteria with some of the best fried chicken, donuts, gravy and lemon pie in town.

Can us common folks get to the basement for that fried chicken, the three fried pork steaks I just ate are lonesome. Is that gravy truly homemade?

This was actually a great deal for UMMC when it was first done. The issue is the facilities have been totally mismanaged by UMMC. The same thing happened with the hospital up in Grenada. UMMC was profitable when Dr Keeton was there, when he left Kevin Cook grabbed the power and ran the facility into the ground and Dr Woodward and the IHL allowed him to do it

KF, not going to dispute your last comment regarding the Lacostes. I was uninformed of any “situation” with them back in the day when they were Lakeland Courthouse regulars.

But I would like your opinion: why is NO ONE on the current “staff” of the Lakeland location motivated to enhance the fitness/workout experience, environment, equipment, etc., as those things have existed in recent years? I am a member, and the general feeling I have is that no employee truly gives a damn about making it an attractive, quality facility again. It still has some “positives” and potential for a come back to the days of old, but the latter only ever occurring with employees who actually care and know how to run a gym. My 2 cents.

And yes, I admit that I have been, and still am, tempted to cancel my membership and join elsewhere. Baptist Healthplex in Madison, perhaps. I just keep holding onto some hope that somehow, some way, someone will “make the Lakeland Courthouse great again.”

I too am a member, and I’ve felt movtivated by the staff every time I walk through the door. Perhaps your lack of motivation just comes from within?

5:58 a.m.

https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/14/ummc-reaches-deal-blue-cross-remain-network/993653002/