News

LSU board to consider Pineville hospital deal

by Patrick Flanagan

Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration is seeking to close LSU's public hospital in Pineville and shift its services to private hospitals in the region.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration is seeking to close LSU's public hospital in Pineville and shift its services to private hospitals in the region.

The proposed privatization deal will be presented to the LSU Board of Supervisors on Friday for approval. It also would require the backing of the Legislature in the 2014 regular session to shutter the facility.

The companies that run CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital and Rapides Regional Medical Center would take over the services at LSU's Huey P. Long Medical Center before the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, according to the proposed contract.

If approved by the LSU board and lawmakers, it would be the ninth university-run hospital to be privatized. LSU would continue to run only one hospital, in Tangipahoa Parish.