LSU Medical Centers In Louisiana To be Leased to Private Hospital Operators To Keep Them Going As the State Makes Budget Cuts..

This is interesting in the fact that the money from the leases will help get federal matching dollars via Medicaid, to keep existing beds and services going.  There were big layoffs planned but those are on hold for the new operators to come in and determine it looks like now.  Shoot looks like I am going to have to revive the “Desperate Hospitals” series as I have been avoiding doing it. 

These are public/private partnerships and came to be when the the state didn’t have many other choices.  There’s work to privatize more government hospitals in the state as well.  The care for the poor and uninsured now goes to the private sector but the article says they will still maintain a safety net role.  There’s nothing yet on how much the private health care operators will pay the state and I am assuming this goes beyond the cost for leasing the properties.  BD

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BATON ROUGE -- The operations of Louisiana State University's public hospitals in New Orleans, Houma and Lafayette will be turned over to nonprofit corporations that run private hospitals in the three cities under outsourcing plans unveiled Monday by Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration.

The lease arrangements were announced by Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein and LSU hospital chief Frank Opelka as part of an administration effort to cut state costs by turning over university-run health care services for the poor and uninsured to the private sector.

The hospitals will maintain their roles of providing safety net care for those without insurance and of training new doctors and other health care professionals, Greenstein said.

Cuts in services and hundreds of layoffs planned for January will be stalled, according to initial documents released by the LSU System, though future staffing decisions and service plans will be left to the hospital operators

Ochsner Health System and Terrebonne General Medical Center will manage the LSU hospital in Houma, the L.J. Chabert Medical Center and its outpatient clinics. Lafayette General Health System will operate the LSU hospital in Lafayette, the University Medical Center and its clinics, according to LSU System documents.

http://www.thetowntalk.com/viewart/20121211/BUSINESS/212110315/Private-hospital-operators-lease-LSU-hospitals

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