<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/7000976/">Should the Legislature let the Jefferson Parish Council lease its two hospitals without a vote of the people?</a>State Rep. Joseph Lopinto, R-Metairie, is sponsoring a bill to let the Jefferson Parish Council lease its two hospitals to outside interests without a vote of the people. The Parish Council requested the legislation last month. Hospital officials say they are...
State Rep. Joseph Lopinto, R-Metairie, is sponsoring a bill to let the Jefferson Parish Council lease its two hospitals to outside interests without a vote of the people. The Parish Council requested the legislation last month.Hospital officials say they are negotiating with three potential partners, and that a referendum would invite deep-pocketed competitors to trash the idea. Losing a referendum, they say, would leave East Jefferson General Hospital and West Jefferson Medical Center wounded and less attractive.
Opponents say that substituting the Parish Council's judgment for the people's right to vote is unwarranted on such an important issue.