AP Wire

State hospital operators: Jindal budget leaves them short

by Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press

Interim LSU Hospital, New Orleans
umcno.org

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has built a $1.1 billion hospital to care for the poor and uninsured in New Orleans. But the manager of the soon-to-be-opened medical center says Gov. Bobby Jindal's budget leaves it millions short of the operating cash it needs.

Private operators of hospitals previously run by LSU asked for $142 million more than Jindal proposed to spend in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Nearly $88 million was for the shifting of services from an interim New Orleans hospital to the larger facility this summer.

Jindal's budget would maintain the $1.2 billion spending level Louisiana allocated for the privatization deals this year.

State lawmakers question if the flat financing level would mean cuts to services for poor and uninsured patients. The Jindal administration says it's willing to negotiate.