Best of the best: Of the more than 4,600 hospitals nationwide that U.S. News & World Report evaluated across five common surgical procedures and chronic conditions for its new rankings of the country’s best hospitals, more than 700 hospitals earned the magazine’s highest rating in at least one procedure or condition. But just 34 were high performing in all five areas—which includes hip replacement, knee replacement, heart bypass surgery, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases—and one of them was Baton Rouge’s Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. OLOL is the only Louisiana hospital among the 34 identified as having better than national average scores in all five areas. See the full list.
The receipt: At roughly $16.4 million, sales tax collections in East Baton Rouge Parish were up 5% in March, compared to approximate collections of $15.6 million in March the year previous. That’s according to the latest report from the city-parish Finance Department, released Wednesday. The report shows collections were stronger inside the city limits of Baton Rouge than outside. In Baton Rouge, a total of $9.2 million was collected in March, a 6.8% increase over the $8.6 million haul during the month in 2014. Outside the city limits, collections totaled roughly $7.2 million, a 3% increase over the $7 million collected last year in March. See the complete March sales tax report.
The house wins: Baton Rouge’s three riverboat casinos collectively won $24.1 million from gamblers in April, a 6.2% increase over winnings of $22.7 million in April last year, according to the latest monthly report from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board. L’Auberge Casino & Hotel led the way, raking in $12.7 million. That’s a 12.7% increase over its winnings of $11.3 million during April last year. At $6.1 million, Hollywood Casino was the second largest winner last month. However, its total take was still down 3.9% from winnings of $6.4 million last April. The Belle of Baton Rouge, meanwhile, saw its take rise by 4.4% in April to $5 million, up from $5.3 million during the month last year. Statewide, Louisiana’s casinos won $220.6 million in April, a 13.2% increase over winnings of $194.8 million last April.
