Less than a year after shuttering its Mid City emergency room, Baton Rouge General Medical Center has filed preliminary paperwork with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to relocate its renowned burn center from the Florida Boulevard facility to its Bluebonnet Boulevard campus.
Hospital officials say it is still too preliminary to discuss a timeline for the move, but shortly after the ER closure last March, CEO Mark Slyter told Business Report the hospital was considering such a move.
“This is a critical service, and we want to make sure we have all the necessary components to support burn,” Slyter said at the time. “It may make more sense to eventually move it, but we want to make sure we make the best decision.”
The Mid City burn unit typically treats between 600 and 700 burn patients a year, with about 10 patients treated on an average day, according to a hospital spokesperson. The facility’s overall patient load has averaged around 70 since the ER closure, she says, so burn patients account for about 14% of the total patient census.
The move is the latest development in the saga of the beleaguered Mid City campus, which was losing $2 million a month before the ER closure, and it further calls into question the future of the 60-year-old facility. Without an emergency room or burn unit, the Mid City campus has fewer services to offer, though it will still provide radiation oncology, hyperbarics, imaging and rehab, among others.
Officials at Baton Rouge General are currently studying potential future uses for the campus. Post-acute care, or rehab, is one possibility. Mental health care is another.
Hospital officials are also making plans to accommodate the new burn center at the 265-bed Bluebonnet campus. It is unclear whether those plans include building a new facility or renovating existing space.
In a prepared statement, the burn center’s medical director, Dr. Tracee Short, says, “Our clinical teams are thoughtfully developing plans that will further enhance our patients’ experience and outcomes in the Regional Burn Center, as well as the experience of their families and loved ones.”
Baton Rouge General’s burn center is one of just 125 specialized burn centers in the country and treats 90% of all burns in the region each year.
—Stephanie Riegel
