Shuckers Select Jason Ely, RN, to Throw First Pitch on Opening Day 2021

BILOXI, MS – As baseball returns to MGM Park for the first time in over a year and a half, the Biloxi Shuckers will honor one of the countless members of the healthcare community on the frontlines who continues to help Mississippians from all over the Coast during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Jason Ely, RN, the Director of Primary Care Services for Singing River Health System, will deliver the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Night against the Mississippi Braves to honor his leadership and embodiment of what it truly means to serve others.

“We wouldn’t be opening our ballpark to fans and even having baseball if it weren’t for the tireless efforts of healthcare workers like Jason during the last 14 months,” said Biloxi Shuckers General Manager Hunter Reed. “Jason represents the best that our healthcare system has to offer, and the work done by his team throughout Jackson and Harrison counties deserves our gratitude and recognition on the most sacred night in baseball.”

Hunter Reed, Biloxi Shuckers General Manager

As the Director of Primary Care Services, Jason and his team have been supporting communities on the Gulf Coast and adjacent counties since the very beginning of the pandemic, from testing in the early days of the pandemic to mass vaccination over the last several months to try and bring the pandemic to an end. Jason and his team support 10 primary care clinics in Jackson and Harrison counties and have been providing care for patients, COVID or not, during the whole pandemic, with many locations providing care seven days a week.

Sometimes it was backdoor COVID testing. Other times it was administering infusions to guests to keep them out of the hospital. And recently, it has been traveling all over the Coast to administer vaccines, at both employer sites and drive-thru vaccine events available to the general public. Totaled up, Jason and his team have supported more than 100 individual COVID vaccine events without missing an opportunity to serve their patients.