Louisiana hospitals on brink of bankruptcy as battle between owner, operator escalates

The dispute between Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwestern Louisiana has come to a head as LSU said its physicians are owed about $13 million for services performed at Biomedical Research-run hospitals.

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Louisiana began to privatize its charity care hospital system in 2013. As part of the privatization, Biomedical Research took over operations at two Shreveport, La.-based University Health System hospitals affiliated with LSU School of Medicine, including its flagship facility in Shreveport and UH Monroe (La.).

But LSU officials have argued the hospital operator’s poor management skills has driven LSU’s hospitals to the brink of financial ruin, according to The Shreveport Times. LSU President F. King Alexander said Biomedical Research lacks the resources and experience to run medical teaching facilities that care for largely for low-income, uninsured patients, causing Biomedical Research to run through hospital reserves and put the facilities at risk of bankruptcy.

University Health officials have denied the accusations. UH chairman Steve Skrivanos said the hospitals’ difficulties stem from LSU’s losing financial model maintained during the past decade, according to the article.

The Board of Regents placed University Hospital Shreveport on fiscal watch Aug. 31.

The university system is negotiating with other hospitals in the region to locate their medical school residents at new facilities, according to the article.

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