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LSU Plans to Privatize 4 More Public Hospitals

Four more facilities within Baton Rouge-based Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division and LSU Health – Shreveport are primed for private operators, as the LSU board of supervisors approved new takeover plans, according to an Advocate report.

Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center in Houma, Walter O. Moss Regional Medical Center in Lake Charles, E.A. Conway Medical Center in Monroe and LSU Medical Center in Shreveport were the four Louisiana hospitals mentioned in the report. However, the LSU board caused a stir within the state legislature by not releasing "key financial and other details" tied to the takeover agreements, including what organizations would be operating the facilities, according to the report.

In addition to those four hospitals, LSU had already made plans to sell Medical Center of Louisiana in New Orleans and University Medical Center in Lafayette to private operators. Bogalusa (La.) Medical Center and Huey P. Long Medical Center in Pineville are also expected to sold, although details have not yet been announced. Another LSU hospital, Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge, also closed in April.

Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center in Independence is expected to be the only hospital within LSU to remain a public entity, according to the Advocate report.

The privatization plan surrounding LSU's hospitals has been controversial within the state. Outsourcing the system's public hospitals to private operators is expected to cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars, and a state report found LSU Health Care Services Division will have to pay $42 million in one-time layoff costs associated with the privatization plan. However, the state has argued it cannot afford to run the hospitals as public entities anymore.

More Articles on LSU Hospitals:

LSU Hospital Privatization Plan Running Out of Funds
Audit: LSU Hospital Layoffs Would Cost State $42M
LSU Board Approves Leasing 2 Hospitals to Private Operators

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