Pascagoula Doctor Fired, Patients Protest to Board

Patients worry their lives are on the line after the abrupt firing of long-time Pascagoula Doctor Terry Millette.
After hearing the crowd against Singing River Health System’s decision, Jackson County Supervisor Randy Bosarge publicly asked the hospital’s CEO to resign.
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Marlene Tompkins is usually able to get around using a walker, but lately she’s been using a scooter. Tompkins says her symptoms have recently worsened due to stress, stress she blames on Singing River Health System’s sudden decision to fire her doctor, Terry Millette. “I’m scared right now. I’m overwhelmed because they took my doctor away without any reason.”
Singing River Hospital shut down Dr. Millette’s office on Monday. A neurologist in Pascagoula for decades, Millette’s patients and staff banded together at the Board of Supervisor’s meeting, protesting the doctor’s firing from the county owned hospital. “It’s made all of us overwhelmed with stress, fatigue, and it’s upset our lives and our family’s lives,” said Tompkins.
The hospital also terminated contracts with some of Millette’s staff. Ashley Verrett worked in Millette’s office for 15 years. She said, “Basically they created an internal investigation. They did not agree with the way Dr. Millette treated MS patients, the way he diagnosed them, even though he uses the same criteria that doctors all over the country use.”
Singing River Health sent a letter to Tompkins. In the letter, it says Millette was dismissed following results from an internal review. Tompkins says the decision to let Dr. Millette go has left her and many of his other patients feeling like they have nowhere else to go. “My whole life has been turned upside down for no reason other than ‘we’ll get back with you,’” said Tompkins.
A statement to News 25 from Singing River Health System’s CEO Kevin Holland says the decision to let Millette go was based on the well-being of patients and a new provider at the neurology clinic is anticipated next week to provide additional care. Some supervisors say they don’t agree with the hospital’s decision and plan to seek a better explanation about what happened.