LSU fund-raising and federal recompensation are helping to finance the $48 million deficit that has crippled Louisiana’s public hospitals.
In 1997, LSU took over management of Earl K. Long Memorial Hospital from the Louisiana Health Care Authority, said LSU System Administrator Bob Plaisance. The LSU Board of Supervisors obtained authority to establish funding for all eight acute care hospitals in Louisiana, including continued financing of the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.
According to an article from The Baton Rouge Advocate, all of the public hospitals run by LSU’s Health Care Division are sharing a $66.5 million budget cut, but New Orleans’ Medical Center of Louisiana and Earl K. Long will suffer the most with budget cuts of $24.1 million and $7.35 million, respectively.
LSU supported the drastic decline in funding with financial aid. LSU restored hospital programs that had been cut with $14.4 million in state funds. The state also has tried to offset this significant reduction with $35.6 million in state-generated funds.
Despite this effort, 68 jobs of mainly state government employees will be eliminated, said Earl K. Long spokesperson Roxane Townsend.
Twenty-eight civil service employees, nurses and other employees with government service ratings have already been informed of their release.
“The walk-in clinic that caters to non-emergency cases and fills prescriptions has been shut down, but we hope to reopen it if funding is restored,” Townsend said.
Baton Rouge Mayor Bobby Simpson is researching the feasibility of a regional hospital service district tax to support Earl K. Long.
“Legislation has passed in a four-parish region to set up a tax for hospital needs,” Simpson said.
The state government is trying to work with LSU to lessen cuts.
“The process is there to allow something to happen,” Simpson said.
The plan is beginning to be researched right now, Plaisance said, and it will be months until they decide whether local taxes to finance these hospitals are a possibility.
Many of the public hospitals are searching for alternative funding to restart the canceled hospital programs.
No specific fund-raising entities have been developed, but there is a private organization at Earl K. Long that collects funds, Plaisance said. Earl K. Long and LSU’s goal is to work with donors that will continue to support the hospital. The University screens philanthropists to ensure their continued support.
“We don’t want to participate in an entity that can walk away with money,” said Plaisance.
The community should also get involved with the public hospital, Plaisance said. The hospital has made efforts to educate the community that relies on Earl K. Long about its financial problems. By raising funds, working with patients and volunteering, the community should participate because “these are their hospitals.”