LSU System chief head of public hospitals

• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Apr 17, 2009 - Page: 4A

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The LSU Board of Supervisors approved a resolution Thursday asserting that the LSU System president is responsible for the “daily operating decisions” for old Charity Hospital in New Orleans and the rest of the state’s public hospitals.

The resolution comes at a time when the LSU System is trying to move forward with a new $1.2 billion LSU/Veterans Administration medical complex and teaching hospital in New Orleans to replace the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged and still-shuttered Charity Hospital.

Preservationists and many others want a renovated Charity hospital to reopen. Also, Tulane University has sought more involvement in the process, especially if a new medical complex is built.

LSU System President John Lombardi said the four-page resolution, which frequently cites state law, was needed to put the situation in a proper ”frame of reference” and context.

“There is a complicated legislative history that created this,” Lombardi said.

Twelve years ago, the state made the public hospital system and medical schools part of the LSU System.

The resolution asserts that the LSU Board members “own and operate” the state’s public hospitals and medical schools.

LSU System General Counsel Ray Lamonica said the resolution helps clarify “much misinformation.”

Eight hospitals from Lafayette to Bogalusa, including Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge, are part of the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. This includes Charity Hospital, formerly known as the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans.

The resolution contends that state law is now legally deficient.

 that required LSU’s ownership of Charity Hospital to include an administrative board that included officials from Tulane University Medical Center, the state Department of Health and Hospitals and other institutions.

Because the hospital was “destroyed” by Katrina, the “functions of the original contemplated administrative board no longer exist,” the resolution states.