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Regular Session, 2010
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 129
BY REPRESENTATIVE BARROW
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Board of Supervisors of the Louisiana State University and
Agricultural and Mechanical College to provide a written, detailed overview and
time line for the closure of the Earl K. Long Medical Center, including specifics
relative to the transfer of its medical education and inpatient hospital care to Our
Lady of the Lake Medical Center.
WHEREAS, the Earl K. Long Medical Center is a state-run, acute care medical
facility that serves East Baton Rouge Parish and the seven surrounding parishes within its
designated coverage area: Ascension, West Baton Rouge, East and West Feliciana, Iberville,
Livingston, and Pointe Coupee; and
WHEREAS, the Earl K. Long Medical Center's mission is to provide quality care to
residents in East Baton Rouge Parish and the surrounding parishes, regardless of their
financial status; and
WHEREAS, as a public hospital, the Earl K. Long Medical Center has maintained
the public's trust through competent care and service to the community; and
WHEREAS, the Earl K. Long Medical Center supports the community it serves
through health education and preventive services; and
WHEREAS, the Earl K. Long Medical Center serves as a teaching hospital for
physician education; and
WHEREAS, the Earl K. Long Medical Center's organizational philosophy and core
values are access, advocacy, respect, knowledge, excellence, and quality; and ENROLLEDHR NO. 129
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WHEREAS, the cooperative endeavor to close Earl K. Long and move its graduate
medical teaching facilities and inpatient care to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical
Center was approved by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget on March 19, 2010;
and
WHEREAS, Bill Holman, the president and chief executive officer of the Baton
Rouge General Medical Center expressed concern that the closure of Earl K. Long Medical
Center could increase the number of uninsured and poor patients visiting other hospitals in
the area without sufficient resources to adequately compensate these hospitals for their care;
and
WHEREAS, the Earl K. Long Medical Center has served as a primary source of care
for generations of underprivileged people in the area who will be forced to search for
alternatives to the quality of care that the Earl K. Long Medical Center has provided over
the years; and
WHEREAS, many residents of East Baton Rouge Parish and the seven surrounding
parishes that the hospital serves have lingering questions concerning its closure, including
the time line of the closure, patient education about the transfer, continued quality of care
to indigent patients, transportation of patients to other hospitals, and the future employment
of current Earl K. Long Medical Center employees; and
WHEREAS, many of the residents in these parishes have become active in the group
Citizens for Equitable Healthcare which encourages citizen engagement to ensure the
equitable delivery of health care; and
WHEREAS, the surrounding community needs some assurance that the core
principles upon which the Earl K. Long Medical Center was founded will continue at Our
Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of the Louisiana
State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College as part of the Louisiana State
University Health Sciences Center should provide a written, detailed overview and time line
for the closure of the Earl K. Long Medical Center, including specifics relative to the
transfer of its medical education and inpatient hospital care to Our Lady of the Lake Medical
Center. ENROLLEDHR NO. 129
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
chairman of the Board of Supervisors of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and
Mechanical College.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES