Louisiana State University and Ochsner Health Systems have agreed to form a new board to oversee operations at the safety-net hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe.
Officials from LSU, Ochsner, LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport and the Biomedical Research Foundation signed letters of intent to create the new private-public partnership Tuesday. Under the agreement, Ochsner will manage both University Health hospitals and the clinical activity of LSU’s Faculty Group Practice. LSU will continue to oversee the LSUHSC-S School of Medicine, School of Allied Health and School of Graduate Studies.
“We look forward to working with the Ochsner Health System, and I personally see great opportunities on the horizon,” Dr. G.E. Ghali, Chancellor of LSU Health Shreveport said during a news conference to announce the agreement.
Jay Dardenne, Commissioner of the Department of Administration, spoke on behalf of Gov. John Bel Edwards.
“I think it’s more than just symbolic that you see so many members of the north Louisiana delegation here standing with us as we make this moments announcement,” Dardenne said. “I think it is representative of the same spirit that brought all of us together today in a day that is really a watershed day for the delivery of healthcare in north Louisiana.”
Dardenne said that all parties have signed what he called “an agreement in principal and in concept. He said the specifics of the deal will be worked out as it moved forward.
“Everybody has come to this day believing that this is going to be in the best interest of the hospital, in the best interest of healthcare delivery in Louisiana, and in the best interest of there people of Louisiana,” he said.