LSU officials opposed to Charity hospital bill

Officials from three New Orleans universities have come out in favor of a bill to transfer the ownership of Charity and University hospitals to an independent board of trustees. The coalition of Dillard, Tulane and Xavier have taken out full-page newspaper ads backing House Bill 830, saying the measure would provide independent oversight and public accountability for a new Charity hospital in New Orleans. LSU officials say they are opposed to the bill; Charles Zewe, a spokesman for the system called the plan “a dramatically bad idea” that would preserve generations of ineffective and costly management. John Lombardi, LSU System president, wrote an op-ed for the Shreveport Times, outlining the university’s plans for a nonprofit, private-style governance for a new teaching hospital in New Orleans. The kind of fiscal discipline recommended by the nationally recognized consultants assures the new hospital will be ‘well positioned to meet the health care needs of the community as it trains health care professionals of the future,'” Lombardi wrote. See his column here.