The Jefferson Parish Council will consider this summer whether voters should keep the right to approve a lease of West Jefferson Medical Center and East Jefferson General Hospital. What do you think?
The Jefferson Parish Council will consider this summer whether voters should keep the right to approve a lease of West Jefferson Medical Center and East Jefferson General Hospital.
Three suitors, Ochsner Health System, Louisiana Children's Medical Center and the Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA, which runs Tulane Medical Center and Lakeside Hospital, are pursuing a lease with Jefferson's hospitals.
The Legislature has already approved a bill that would let the council approve a lease without going to voters, and Gov. Bobby Jindal is expected to sign it into law.
But a 1992 parish ordinance gives voters the final say on any lease. Council members plan to hold a special meeting in July to debate amending that ordinance.
Hospital officials argue that a competitive lease can't be negotiated through the ballot box, because a referendum exposes the deal to likely fatal attacks and would weaken the hospitals.
What do you think?