Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals CEO Kathy Kliebert has asked the CEOs of the four local hospitals that provide emergency room care to meet with her and other community stakeholders Wednesday to discuss the impact of the pending closure of Baton Rouge General Medical Center’s Mid City emergency room.
Those invited to attend the meeting include: Baton Rouge General CEO Mark Slyter, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center CEO Scott Wester, Ochsner Medical Center Baton Rouge CEO Eric McMillen and Lane Regional Medical Center CEO Randall Olson.
Kliebert doesn’t have a set agenda for the meeting. However, in a statement issued to Daily Report, the secretary says: “Two weeks ago, we announced a plan to set up a new model for health care delivery in Mid City that includes multiple health care providers, the state and community advocacy organizations. This model includes urgent care clinics that have proven to be a success in other parts of Baton Rouge, and the meeting on Wednesday is just an internal planning meeting with all of the stakeholders.”
Officials at Baton Rouge General announced Feb. 5 they would be shutting down their Mid City ER within 60 days because of mounting financial losses that are averaging about $2 million a month. Officials with DHH and Our Lady of the Lake, which has a contract with the state to provide care to Medicaid and indigent patients, subsequently announced they would work toward “a new model of care” for the area that would include expanding the availability of urgent care clinics in the vicinity of Baton Rouge General’s Mid City campus. No details have yet emerged as to what specifically that means.
Last week, several state lawmakers from the Capital Region delegation gathered at the State Capitol to protest the pending closure and demand the Jindal administration find a way to keep the ER open. Wednesday’s meeting is not intended to do that, but rather to plan for the future, a DHH spokesman says.
The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. at Our Lady of the Lake. It is not open to the public.
—Stephanie Riegel
