How to Stay Healthy in Jackson, MS
The Jackson Metro region has an abundance of blue-ribbon health care facilities, a variety of sports and recreation opportunities, and a bumper crop of farm-to-fork products available at local farmers markets, which together provide a perfect formula to help residents live their best lives. Here’s a look at the great options for food, fitness and hospitals in Jackson.
Access to 18 Hospitals in Jackson Metro
Eighteen hospitals are scattered across the community, including Mississippi State Hospital, a public psychiatric campus, the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center, Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, St. Dominic Health Services Inc. and more, providing approximately 5,500 beds and a broad scope of services.
The stalwart University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) has a Jackson address. The word “only” is key in describing the important impact of the medical center on the region’s well-being. It is the home to the state’s only Level I trauma center, children’s hospital, organ and bone marrow transplant program, and Telehealth Center of Excellence.
It has the distinction of being the state’s only academic health science center that enrolls nearly 3,000 students in the schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health-related professions, graduate studies, population health and pharmacy.
One of the state’s largest employers, UMMC is responsible for more than 10,000 full- and part-time jobs and operates on a $1.8 billion annual budget.
“As the state’s sole academic medical center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center provides leadership and expertise across its three-part mission of education, research and health care,” says Patrice Guilfoyle, UMMC communications director. “Its six hospitals and dozens of clinics statewide give Mississippi residents and beyond access to word-class health care.”
Exciting growth is on the horizon with construction of a $65 million School of Nursing building, which began fall 2023. Meanwhile, $40 million from state legislators will help fund the renovation of the existing School of Dentistry building.
Local Farmers Markets
Forget the worm. Early-bird customers line up quickly on Saturday mornings to purchase farm-fresh produce and food from their favorite booth at the year-round Mississippi Farmers Market on High Street in Jackson.
“Most of our produce is stacked high on the tables and often has the morning dew on it when we open,” says Jonathan McCraw, the Mississippi Farmers Market assistant manager. “One of our vendors gets up around 4 a.m. and bakes bread fresh before bringing it to the market warm.”
Savvy shoppers often plan a week of healthy meals around in-season selections. Think sweet corn and juicy tomatoes in the summer to root crops and dark leafy greens in cooler months. The market’s Facebook page features a weekly “What’s Fresh” recipe and indicates what ingredients can be purchased on Saturday morning.
Other items available are dairy, eggs, meat, fresh flowers, pickles, jams and jellies, sweet treats, boiled peanuts, shrimp, muscadines and coffee beans as well as locally made arts and crafts.
Other locations to score fresh goods nearby are Doris Berry’s Farmers Market, open all week in Pearl, and Cockrell’s Farmers Market in Brandon and Freshway Produce in Ridgeland, open daily except Sunday.
Find Fitness and Friendship
Whether you embrace getting exercise on your own two feet or a pair of wheels, welcoming faces engage you in fun and fitness in the city’s growing list of parks, trails and green spaces. The popular multiuse Museum Trail and greenway connects Jackson’s museums, parks and public art, such as “A Journey Through Jackson,” the state’s largest mural.
Near the Museum Trail are the new Belhaven Mountain Bike Trails, nominated by voters in Mississippi Magazine’s “Best of Mississippi 2023” in the Best Trails category. LeFleur’s Bluff Playground, a 30,000-square-foot site featuring 80 play activities, 73 that are inclusive to children with accessibility needs, sits inside LeFleur’s Bluff State Park.
Experienced and beginning adult bicyclists can find “an inclusive cross-section of Jackson society – we are all cyclists who love to ride and make new friends,” says Brian Derry, president of the Jackson Metro Cyclists.
An active group of adults from 18 to 70 seasonally put wheels down on the open road on Tuesdays for an average 20-mile ride. Locations and other rides are announced on the group’s Facebook page. New riders are often paired with a buddy and can enjoy a shorter trip. The group annually hosts four educational workshops and two social events, and “often enjoys a beer and conversation together after our rides,” Derry adds.
Recently organized, Soul City Cycling Mississippi is another welcoming cycling group and an affiliate of the Major Taylor Association, named after the first Black world champion in cycling.
