Private partnerships won’t preclude some layoffs at LSU hospitals

Agreements for three nonprofit hospital companies to operate LSU public hospitals in New Orleans, Houma and Lafayette may stave off immediate layoffs, but only temporarily. Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein says most employees will lose their LSU jobs next spring and need to apply with the new hospital operators. Greenstein tells The Times-Picayune that the end of LSU employment for New Orleans hospital workers will come in spring or early summer. The only exception will be the doctors, who will remain employed by LSU’s physician network. The health secretary says many employees will find jobs with the new hospital operator—the Louisiana Children’s Medical Center, the nonprofit that runs Children’s Hospital and Touro Infirmary—but they will need to interview for positions. The same arrangement will happen at the LSU-run public hospitals in Lafayette and Houma that are slated to undergo the same transition to private management. Ochsner Health System and Terrebonne General Medical Center are expected to lease and operate the public hospital in Houma, while Lafayette General will operate the public hospital in Lafayette. The LSU Board of Supervisors is meeting Friday at 10 a.m. at the LSU System Building, 3810 West Lakeshore Dr., to consider all three deals.