The private manager of LSU’s Shreveport hospital is accusing a competitor in the region of trying to poach its doctors and paying patients.
The Associated Press reports University Health System officials today launched a strike against contracts they expect to be considered Friday by the LSU Board of Supervisors.
The contracts, according to University Health, would have LSU doctors working at Willis-Knighton Health System clinics to provide specialty care. David Ettinger, an antitrust lawyer hired by University Health, says that if LSU doctors shift much of their specialty care to Willis-Knighton, it will drive insured patients away from the state-owned facility and will boost state costs for uninsured care.
Willis-Knighton and LSU didn’t immediately return calls to The AP today for comment. LSU officials and University Health’s managers have repeatedly clashed since Gov. Bobby Jindal privatized the hospital in 2013.
