Louisiana State University Should Build Public Baton Rouge Hospital, Create More Private Hospital Partnerships, Report Recommends

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 02 May 2006 - 18:00 PDT

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Louisiana State University should build a public hospital in Baton Rouge, La., with a Level 1 trauma center to reflect a population shift from New Orleans to Baton Rouge following Hurricane Katrina, according to a recently released report prepared for the Louisiana Recovery Authority by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports. The report says that Louisiana is not receiving adequate federal funding, is failing to provide adequate training to health professionals and is running two health systems -- one for those with private insurance and one for those who are uninsured or underinsured. The report recommends that some doctor training and other medical training programs be moved from the LSU School of Medicine at New Orleans to the new Baton Rouge hospital, which would be the only Level 1 trauma center in that city. The report also recommends that LSU's training programs include work at private hospitals so that the state can receive additional federal funding. LSU Health Care Services Division head Don Smithburg said medical training must continue at public hospitals is necessary because residents and interns supply the physician staffing. LSU Health Care Sciences Center Chancellor Larry Hollier said he favors more partnerships with private hospitals. PriceWaterhouseCoopers' recommendations were expected to go before LRA's health care subcommittee for discussion and possible action on Friday (Shuler, Baton Rouge Advocate, 4/27).

The report is available online. Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the report.

"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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