Baton Rouge’s major hospitals are reacting with caution to a proposed resolution discussed at Wednesday’s Metro Council meeting that would ask them to partner with Champion Medical Center on Harding Boulevard. The medical center is being groomed as a possible site for a freestanding emergency facility to serve north Baton Rouge.
The resolution, if introduced and ultimately approved, would be nonbinding, and the council cannot force the hospitals to sign it. Still, the idea caught many off guard, and hospital officials say they are awaiting more details before they can say much.
“Ochsner Health System is not familiar with the details of the Metro Council’s proposal,” says Ochsner Medical Center-Baton Rouge CEO Eric McMillen.
Similarly, Baton Rouge General President and CEO Mark Slyter says, “Champion has not yet discussed their proposal with us, though it is likely they are working with one of the state funded safety net hospitals on a transfer arrangement.”
Officials with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center did not return a call seeking comment in time for this afternoon’s publication.
The idea for the resolution came as the Metro Council was meeting to discuss health care needs in Baton Rouge, which has become a hot-button issue in this election year.
Activists from north Baton Rouge complain their part of the parish has been underserved since the closures of Earl K. Long in 2013 and the Baton Rouge General Mid City emergency room in 2015.
Last month, a Texas company said it could develop an emergency room at the Champion site, though it would need annual subsidies in the millions of dollars. It would also need partner hospitals, to whom it could transfer patients.
Hospital officials today sought to reaffirm their commitment to caring for the underserved in the community without actually making any commitment to Champion or any sort of Metro Council resolution.
“Over the past year, our leadership team has worked collaboratively with other area hospital leadership teams … to respond to the changes in Greater Baton Rouge,” McMillen says. “All parties have worked together to ensure that there are adequate systems in place to respond to the area’s true emergency care needs. We will continue to provide high quality care to those who need it.”
Says Baton Rouge General’s Slyter: “Baton Rouge General cares for hundreds of thousands of patients each year, and has created a sustainable path forward to meet our community’s most vital needs. We have no plans to change course.”
—Stephanie Riegel
