The battle for control over the state charity hospital system has begun, and the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana says the hospitals should move into private hands while the LSU System says the state should reform the health care entity and maintain authority. State officials have sparred recently about what should be done with the state’s hospital system, which was created to train medical students and serve the uninsured. Recently the LSU System asked the state legislature to appropriate funds for a new Charity Hospital in New Orleans because the previous one was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. With the decision to rebuild Charity Hospital in New Orleans comes the need to decide the fate of the 10 charity hospitals across the state and determine both the best way to spend taxpayer dollars and serve the residents of Louisiana. On one side of the debate, officials are calling for reform and an overhaul of a system they say is necessary to educate medical students and treat the poor and indigent. On the other side of the debate, opponents say the charity hospitals are failing to meet the basic needs of the public, and the uninsured would be better served if public health care was privatized. PAR has been criticized for opposing the public system because the group receives donations from private health care entities in the state. The LSU System has been criticized for being involved with public health care, something some say is not within the duties of a body created to oversee higher education. Last week The Daily Reveille requested to view the report PAR is planning to release in two weeks that calls for the dismantling of the charity hospital system, citing public record laws . The report had been given to the LSU System President William Jenkins for review, making it a public record. When the System handed the record over to The Daily Reveille on Tuesday for public analysis, the process of deciding the fate of the public hospitals became more transparent and open. It is the duty of voters to read the document and become informed about the topic. Charity hospitals currently provide a pivotal service to the public and decisions about their future must not be left to the few. It is a step toward making the correct decision about the future of public health care by making information about the system public and having the government act with complete transparency.
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