The state hopes a $20 million purchase in South Baton Rouge will improve patient access to quality health care. This past spring, the state Legislature set aside $15 million to purchase Vista Surgical Hospital for the University to use as a satellite medical center. The plan is to relieve an excess of surgical cases at Earl K. Long Medical Center to advance the medical capabilities in Baton Rouge. The University’s Health Care Services Division agreed to provide additional funding for the purchase that includes a 50,000-square-foot surgical facility, a 6,900-square-foot medical office building, 20 acres of land and medical equipment. Marvin McGraw, director of communications for the LSU Health Sciences Center, said the Vista purchase is part of the center’s new plan to make health care more accessible to patients. He said the plan emphasizes increasing the number of available community clinics. “The purchase of Vista is part of an ongoing plan to decentralize the delivery of health care for the people we serve,” he said. Owned by Vista Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Dynacq Healthcare Inc., Vista is mainly used for bariatric, orthopedic and plastic surgeries, but the University will utilize the Vista hospital as a satellite medical center, specifically an ambulatory center for outpatient surgery. McGraw said when the purchase is complete by the end of the year, Long Medical Center will have the capacity to meet patient needs more efficiently. After Hurricane Katrina, the demand for residency training in Baton Rouge increased causing a backlog of gynecology, gastroenterology, orthopedic, oral surgery and general surgery cases at Long Medical Center. McGraw said the University has discussed provisional plans to replace the acute care medical facility with an academic medical center. Dr. Michael Butler, active CEO for HCSD, said the purchase is a solution for Long Medical Center to expand outpatient surgical capacity to benefit patients. He said the purchase will also enhance the quality of services available in Baton Rouge. “Right now, there are not enough clinics and operating space at Earl K. Long Medical Center for the cases that need to be done, particularly the procedures that are not life threatening,” he said. “This will allow those services to be delivered in a timely manner.” In addition to the University’s existing satellite clinic in Mid City, McGraw said possible construction plans of a new health care clinic on Airline Highway is central to the University’s new health care delivery plan. He said the idea is to bring primary care services to the neighborhoods rather than providing routine clinical services at a hospital. “LSU believes the purchase of Vista combined with a vibrant Mid City Clinic, the pending construction of a major new clinic on Airline and a new academic medical center with Level 1 trauma services will complement our provision of quality health care,” McGraw said.
—Contact Natalie Messina at [email protected]