The LSU Board of Supervisors is deciding whether to turn over operations of its public hospitals in New Orleans, Houma and Lafayette to nonprofit corporations that run private hospitals in the cities.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The LSU Board of Supervisors is deciding whether to turn over operations of its public hospitals in New Orleans, Houma and Lafayette to nonprofit corporations that run private hospitals in the cities.
The board discusses the idea at a special meeting Friday.
The privatization plan is being pushed by Gov. Bobby Jindal to cut state costs at the hospitals that care for the poor and uninsured and provide graduate medical training.
With Jindal appointees filling nearly every position on the LSU board, the outsourcing arrangements aren't expected to run into trouble.
The companies taking over hospital management will make lease payments to the state, dollars that Jindal health secretary Bruce Greenstein says will draw federal matching money to pay for services. Lease terms are under negotiation and haven't been released.