Louisiana Officials Discuss Future Of Charity Hospital System

December 6, 2006 – 12:09 pm | posted in Health Insurance, Primary Care

Louisiana state Sen. Tom Schedler (R) on Wednesday at a panel discussion on restructuring the state health care system said that the Charity Hospital system should be dismantled, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports. The Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division operates the 10-hospital system, which receives nearly all of Louisiana’s federal Medicaid funding. The Charity Hospital in New Orleans was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Schedler said the system did not have enough money to operate effectively before Katrina, adding that another shortage of funds would occur once federal hurricane aid is spent. Schedler suggested that instead of rebuilding and enlarging the system — and requiring low-income patients to obtain health care at Charity hospitals — the state should provide health care cards to low-income residents that allow them to choose a provider. However, LSU hospital system Chief Medical Officer Michael Butler said that dismantling the Charity system would reduce costs marginally at best, adding that a different system likely would deliver lower-quality care (Courreges, Baton Rouge Advocate, 11/30).

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