Mississippi Physician Health Program
P.O. Box 2548
Ridgeland, MS. 39158
Phone: (601) 420-0240
Fax: (601) 707-3794
The Mississippi Physician Health Program (MPHP) is a 501(c) (3) corporate subsidiary of the Mississippi State Medical Association (MSMA), organized as a nonprofit, charitable organization. MSMA & MPHP are contractually affiliated through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure.
Dr. Michael W. Wilkerson is currently employed as the Corporate Medical Director of Bradford Health Services. He has been employed at Bradford Health Services since 2006 and directs the Healthcare Professionals Program at their Warrior, Alabama facility. Dr. Wilkerson graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina and completed his internship and internal medicine residency at New Hanover Memorial Hospital in Wilmington, NC. He is board certified in Addiction Medicine and Internal Medicine and has also been recognized as a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He has specialized in treating healthcare professionals with substance use disorders since 1988 and has previously served as the Medical Director of both the North Carolina Physicians Health Program and Talbot Recovery Campus. He has presented extensively throughout the country for treatment, education, and monitoring of Healthcare Professionals with substance use disorders.
Dr. Byers earned a B.S. in Biology from Millsaps College in Jackson, MS, and attended Medical School at The University of Mississippi School of Medicine, completing training in Internal Medicine. He began his career at the Mississippi State Department of Health in 1993 and was appointed State Epidemiologist in 2016. Dr. Byers provides medical direction for the Office of Communicable Diseases which includes the Offices of Immunization, STD/HIV and Tuberculosis. Dr. Byers has led the responses and investigations around multiple emerging diseases and conditions including Ebola, Zika and vaping related lung injuries, and since January 2020 has been involved in leading the state response the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Byers has authored multiple publications and have given numerous presentations about Epidemiology and Public Health.
Dr. Lauderdale is a board certified Internal Medicine specialist who currently practices primary care for medically complex adults at Hattiesburg Clinic. Her mission is to teach the science and practices that lead to individuals flourishing in their medical careers, and to raise awareness of the need for cultural and systemic change in medicine. In addition to her primary care practice, Dr. Lauderdale hosts a podcast that was born from her own experience of burnout and subsequent study of human flourishing.
J. Anthony Cloy, M.D., earned his medical degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in 1991 and completed a Family Medicine residency there in 1994. After seven years of traditional practice, he returned as faculty in the Family Medicine Department at UMMC in 2001 where he rose to the rank of Associate Professor. While at UMMC, he participated in the organization’s Opioid Task Force and Controlled Substance education series. Dr. Cloy is a diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine and is a member of AAFP, STFM, AMA, and ASAM. He is past president and secretary of the Mississippi Society of Addiction Medicine and has served on the planning committee for the Mississippi Addictions Conference. As a member of the Mississippi Physician Health Committee, he served as chair prior to his appointment as Mississippi Physician Health Program Medical Director in 2021.
