The operator of hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe says LSU intends to push out the group.
Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana Chairman Steve Skrivanos tells The News-Star of Monroe that, after a meeting with LSU administrators in Baton Rouge on Thursday, the university intends to declare that the foundation has breached its contract. That sets the stage for a lawsuit to force out the foundation, which Skrivanos says the foundation will fight. Skrivanos met with LSU administrators Dan Layzell and Dr. Frank Opelka in Baton Rouge on Thursday.
“They told us they would like for us to step aside, and when we said we had no intention to do so, they made it clear that they intended to provide notice of breach (of contract),” Skrivanos says.
Biomedical Research Foundation earned the contract to operate the northern Louisiana hospitals in 2013 as part of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s privatization of the state’s charity hospital system. Together University Health in Shreveport and University Health Conway in Monroe are charged with being the health care safety net for all of northern Louisiana.
If LSU does file a breach notice, it would likely lead to litigation and could take years to resolve. University officials haven’t outlined specific concerns with the foundation’s performance. But LSU and the hospital manager have repeatedly clashed since Jindal privatized the hospitals in 2013. LSU’s Shreveport medical school relies on the University Health hospital to provide physician training.
LSU officials didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from The News-Star or The AP. In June, supervisors authorized President F. King Alexander to take action.
