12/20/2025
Important Announcement from CollaborativeNP Health Center
This is a difficult message to share, and it comes after deep reflection, advocacy, and an unwavering commitment to ethical, patient-centered care.
Effective immediately, CollaborativeNP Health Center will no longer be able to accept new patients who reside in the State of Mississippi, nor continue care for our current Mississippi patients. We will, however, continue to proudly serve residents of Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Vermont, with plans to expand access to care in 25 additional states in the near future.
This decision is not rooted in a lack of commitment to Mississippi or its people. On the contrary, it is driven by concern for patients and by the increasingly volatile and restrictive nurse practitioner practice laws in Mississippi. Current statutes require advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to enter collaborative agreements with physicians—often their direct competitors—in order to practice.
Despite repeated claims that these laws protect the public, there is no evidence that collaborative practice agreements improve care coordination, patient safety, health outcomes, or quality of care. Physicians are not required to see patients, visit practice sites, review charts in real time, or meaningfully participate in patient care. In practice, these agreements function primarily as financial and professional barriers that restrict access to care—particularly in rural and underserved communities.
In his March 12, 2024 article “The collaborative practice agreement is anticompetitive,” Getty Israel, MPH, a public health expert, author, and Mississippi resident, wrote that state legislators are providing protection to physicians who enjoy a direct financial and competitive benefit codified into Mississippi state law, a system that some legislators have quietly referred to as a “shake down,” “extortion,” and “pay to play.” Under this framework, so long as a physician receives the fee they demand, a nurse practitioner’s practice is permitted to remain open—regardless of whether the physician meaningfully participates in patient care.
Mississippi continues to face a profound public health crisis: provider shortages, counties without obstetrical services, rising rates of preventable chronic and infectious disease, and escalating healthcare costs. Yet year after year, legislation that would modernize nurse practitioner practice and expand access to care fails to advance.
Across the country, many states—and federal systems such as the Veterans Health Administration—have removed these restrictions after recognizing that they benefit systems, not patients. National bodies, including the Federal Trade Commission, have identified such laws as anti-competitive.
To our Mississippi patients: we see you, we care deeply about you, and this decision was not made lightly. We remain committed to advocacy, reform, and to the belief that Mississippi’s people deserve better access to high-quality healthcare.
How you can help:
If you are a patient, healthcare professional, or community member who believes in access to care, we encourage you to respectfully contact your state legislators, especially members of the public health committees, and ask them to support nurse practitioner practice reform. You can also support organizations and coalitions advocating for full practice authority, share accurate information, and participate in constructive dialogue about solutions that put patients first.
📞 Mississippi Capitol Switchboard: (601) 359-3770
Ask to be connected to your State Senator and Representative.
Change happens when voices come together. We remain hopeful—and committed—to being part of that change. ❤️
