As Jefferson council considers public's right to vote on hospitals, follow live reports

Nancy Cassagne, of the West Jefferson Medical Center, spoke in favor of the lease without a public referendum to parish president John F. Young at a public council meeting.

Nancy Cassagne, CEO of the West Jefferson Medical Center pressed the council to make a choice, soon -- or the hospital would not be financially sound. "The sense of urgency is real. It's here. We can't delay," Cassagne said.

She stressed the political gain from a quick move. Making a decision as quickly as possible would benefit the hospital's 2,000 employees, she said. 

East Jefferson General Hospital president Mark J. Peters echoed her comments. "The cash situation has depleted," he said.

10:45

Sheriff Newell Normand saw Jefferson Parish as at a "crossroads," with a lease of the hospitals pushing the parish out of a "downward spiral."

Sheriff Newell Normand painted a bleak picture, which seemed designed to rattle council to agree to lease the hospitals. "We're at a crossroads in Jefferson Parish," he said. To shut down the hospitals -- which he described as "two major employers" would pull the parish into "a downward spiral," he said.

"That's not Chicken Little, 'The sky is falling,'" he said. "That is reality."

Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng asked a pointed question that cleared the room. Speakers had commented on hospital finances, on business concerns. "What are the consequences of this decision to a sick person?" she asked.

Normand described the choice to lease the hospitals as benefiting a visitor to the two hospitals.

11:00

Councilman Ricky Templet hit a light note, remembering that he was actually in West Jefferson long enough to have experienced what the hospital on the West Bank had first meant. "I grew up here on the West Bank. You know with my family going to West Jeff Hospital and basically calling it its own. You know the West Bank has been passionate about its hospital since day one."

Templet said "our concern is the best care for the citizens." But he also wondered if the figure of 2,000 employees, which had been floated around, was too low -- as many more Jefferson Parish citizens would be impacted, including vendors to the hospitals. Wasn't the number more like 4,000?

Sheriff Normand agreed. "There are a lot of people that rely on these two institutions to remain viable and to flourish," he said. He noted that the hospitals expenditures are $600 million annually. "Six-hundred million," he said again, letting the figure hang in the air.

11:10

Parish President John F. Young looks back at West Jefferson General Hospital's Nancy Cassagne, for a confirmation.

Jefferson Parish president John F. Young argued for an exit clause in the hospital lease. "We're in the courtship phase. And everything is nice and everyone's looking forward to the honeymoon," he said. But what about in the "unlikely event that these things go sour"? Was there an exit clause?

He looked over to Cassagne, who nodded yes.

And with that, the floor was open to the public.

But when the first member of the public, Helene O'Brien, president of the Local 21 Union, which represents service employees in Jefferson Parish, came to speak, Young took his leave -- returning only two minutes later for the next speaker.

What he missed was O'Brien arguing against leasing the hospitals without a public referendum. She said that Jefferson Parish is home to the highest number of uninsured residents in the state. Her concern was to protect access to quality healthcare and living wage jobs. "A public referendum would give Jefferson Parish residents the chance to say what we want."

11:15

Jefferson Parish COO Chris Cox and Parish President John F. Young listened to voices from the public.

Members of the public spoke largely in favor of a public vote. A resident of the East Bank noted that it was until 11:10 a.m. before the council allowed the public to speak at a meeting that was described as starting at 10 a.m. and being in the interest of the public. And why was the meeting held during business hours on a weekday? If the council had wanted to hear from the public, would it not be better to hold the meeting on a Saturday?

Jefferson Parish citizen Johnny Carroll, who said he had lived in the parish since 1965, told the council: "We've already told you, 'Don't mess with our hospitals.' And it's in the book."

11:30

Dr. Bart Farris, the Medical Director of the Laboratory at West Jefferson and a former President of the Louisana State Medical Society spoke in favor of council moving forward with the lease for a reason that no one had yet brought up.

Among other attendees at the council meeting were young doctors, who listened with attention to Dr. Farris' comments.

"We're not going to be able to attract young doctors to our facilities," Farris said. Privatization would allow the hospitals to better recruit young doctors, attracted to working with improved facilities and medical equipment.

"I spent three weeks on the floor of my office during Hurricane Katrina in West Jefferson," Farris said. Young doctors around him, he said, were "traumatized by that situation." And in the years that followed, he received more letters of resignation from physicians than he did applications for employment.

The hospital is just now, he said "at the position again when we're attracting young physicians."

Council chairman Chris Roberts asked a question of John Wales, Medical Director at the Emergency Department at East Jefferson, who spoke in favor of the resolution.

"Are you aware of any doctor that has come forward and expressed concerns about what direction this might be headed in?"

Wales didn't know of one. However: "No one knows what the best move is until it all plays out," he said. "And then we'll second guess it."

"We know there are going to be changes," he said. "If we did nothing there are going to be changes. I can only echo my support." 

Noon

Dalton Joseph of East Jefferson spoke for low income Jefferson residents.

Dalton Joseph, of East Jefferson, spoke for SEIU and for low-income Jefferson Parish residents in general, he said. "I've seen what privatization does," he said. "Today all we spoke about and tugged on was finance? What about the poor people? Are they going to be guaranteed admittance in these hospitals? That's my concern."

Councilman Paul D. Johnston spoke with concern. Why did low-income Jefferson Parish residents fear the affects of privatization?

"You're not going to be turned away from our hospitals because one of these companies comes in and helps us," he said. "You are not going be denied services at East and West Jefferson hospitals...As far as I have been told."

Joseph, in the audience, shook his head.

"You're shaking your head 'no,'" Johnston said. Johnston asked Cassagne, also in the audience, to clarify that privatization would not affect low-income hospital clients. She agreed it would not.

12:10

No other members of the public approached the podium to speak, and Council Chairman Roberts turned it over to the council.

Councilman Johnston and Councilwoman Lee-Sheng spoke in favor of leasing the hospitals, for various reasons.

Among those members of the public who spoke in favor of the council resolution to lease the hospitals without a public referendum were West Jefferson hospital volunteers Althea Lacour, Carmen Blanchard, Charlene Sandie, Cheryl Herbert, Sally Sampey and Rudy Sampey

"This is a very sticky subject," Johnston said. But his constituents, he said, had not approached saying that they "don't appreciate us taking their right to vote away."

"It's a tough decision we have to make."

"To maintain the services, keep the hospitals open and the quality of life that Jefferson Parish expects -- that's what we want to do," he said.

Lee-Sheng echoed comments she had made previously, that no hospital employee had yet approached her or her office to argue against leasing the hospitals. "That's just in the forefront of my mind," she said. "These are the people who take care of our sick people everyday. Healthcare is obviously their concern."

"I just find it very telling that I haven't been contacted by one person who's opposed to this measure."

Sheriff Normand spoke passionately. They could not know exactly what the outcome would be, he said. "It can be a boogeyman behind every bush." But with the facts before him, "We sit back and look at this as realistically as possible."

"A personal anecdotal story has no place in this decision, and to be quite frank to you it's one of the dangers of this public referendum," he said.

If a citizen was affected by a doctor "with bad bedside manner...who had a crappy day" that could shift a citizen's vote. "That has no place. I'm sympathetic to it. I've had bad experiences in my own family. But that doesn't have a place in this decision."

12:25

When would this happen? With council being urged to rush allowing the lease of the hospitals -- when exactly would the hospitals be leased?

The hospitals would meet in late July and early August.

"We really don't know how long that would take," said Sheriff Normand. "That would very much depend on who we choose."

The suitor chosen would have to review the market.

The earliest date of a public referendum would be in November, the Sheriff confirmed.

12:30

The council voted unanimously, seven to zero, in a joint motion. There was no opposition. A public referendum would not occur.

And with that, the room began to clear.

. . . . . . .

(An earlier version of this story quoted Cassagne as saying West Jefferson Medical Center employed "2,000 votes." She actually said "2,000 folks.")