Gov. Bobby Jindal marks the expansion of the LSU Health Baton Rouge Urgent Care Center in North Baton Rouge with local lawmakers and health officials. LSU School of Medicine Dean Steve Nelson announces the medical school plans to open up a Baton Rouge branch campus.
Gov. Bobby Jindal joined capital area lawmakers and health officials in North Baton Rouge on Tuesday to mark the opening of an expanded urgent care clinic. The ribbon-cutting marked the latest development arising from the partnership completed in April between LSU and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.
"Our historic public-private partnerships are continuing to improve care and educate the doctors of tomorrow across our state, all while saving taxpayers more than $125 million dollars," Jindal said at a press conference before the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Last year, the Jindal administration moved to privatize the state's charity hospital system in the wake of a major reduction in federal Medicaid money coming into the state. The LSU-OLOL partnership was the first to be completed on April 15.
Baton Rouge's public hospital, Earl K. Long, was shuttered that day and services shifted to the medical center off Essen Lane and the six LSU clinics in the capital area region. Jindal said wait times for critical prescriptions had been cut from 10 days to 10 hours and delays at the medical center's emergency room had been dramatically cut.
The expansion at the LSU Health Baton Rouge Urgent Care Center in North Baton Rouge increases the clinic's capacity by 6,965 square feet. It will treat minor injuries and illnesses and will be staffed 24/7.
Speaking before the ribbon-cutting, LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans Dean Dr. Steve Nelson hailed the LSU-OLOL partnership for affording expanded health care options to residents in the capital region while also providing more training opportunities for medical students.
Nelson added the partnership will allow the medical school to start a new branch campus in Baton Rouge. Application papers to receive accreditation for the new campus have already been submitted and approval is expected in the next few months.
"This new partnership has created relationships and infrastructure which is necessary to support medical student education," Nelson said. The new campus will allow medical students to "live and train throughout their clinic rotations in Baton Rouge."
Taking questions after the press conference, Health and Hospitals Secretary Kathy Kliebert said her department is still working to provide more access to mental health services. Jindal also said the city-parish is working with the Capital Area Transit System, or CATS, to ensure patients without their own means of transport will have options.
"CATS has improved and increased services," Jindal said. He said new expanded clinic will be another, more local, option for those living in Baton Rouge and that other gaps will be filled by Medicaid non-emergency transportation.
In addition to the LSU-OLOL partnership, similar agreements are being hammered out with Louisiana's charity hospitals and other private health care providers across the state. Many of the other agreements have been questioned by state lawmakers for lacking critical details and figures.