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Regular Session, 2012
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 191
BY SENATOR CHABERT
HEALTH CARE. Requests the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare to study the
governance, efficiencies, and service delivery of the Louisiana State University Health Care
Services Division and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.
A RESOLUTION1
To urge and request the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare to study the governance,2
efficiencies, and service delivery of the Louisiana State University Health Care3
Services Division and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.4
WHEREAS, the Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division (LSU-5
HCSD) operates hospitals, clinics, and trauma centers around the state, serving hundreds of6
thousands of patients every year; and7
WHEREAS, in 1936 the Legislature of Louisiana created a state hospital board to8
implement the late Governor Huey P. Long's plan to build a chain of charity hospitals around9
the state, and the building of these facilities continued through the next three decades; and10
WHEREAS, that chain of hospitals looks very different today, generally competing11
in the marketplace for available health care dollars on a par with privately-owned and12
nonprofit healthcare facilities; and13
WHEREAS, today LSU-HCSD operates the following hospitals: Bogalusa Medical14
Center, E.A. Conway Medical Center (Monroe), Earl K. Long Medical Center [to partner15
with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center] (Baton Rouge), Huey P. Long Medical16
Center (Pineville), Interim LSU Public Hospital (New Orleans), Lallie Kemp Medical Center17
(Independence), L.J. Chabert Medical Center (Houma), LSU Hospital (Shreveport),18 SR NO. 191
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University Medical Center (Lafayette), and W.O. Moss Regional Medical Center (Lake1
Charles); and2
WHEREAS, these hospitals serve every corner of the state and offer essential3
services to both inpatients and outpatients, often providing the only inpatient, emergency,4
and psychiatric care within a reasonable distance; and5
WHEREAS, in 2010 these hospitals recorded more that three hundred thousand6
inpatient days (one patient/day/bed), nearly one million six hundred thousand outpatient7
visits, over four hundred thousand emergency department encounters (patients treated), and8
over one million one hundred thousand outpatient clinic visits; and9
WHEREAS, sixty percent of all physician residents and fellows in Louisiana are10
assigned to and trained in the LSU-HCSD hospitals at any one time, and nearly all those11
practicing in the state have worked in these facilities and outpatient clinics at some time12
during their medical training; and13
WHEREAS, in serving this huge portion of the population of Louisiana's sick and14
injured, these hospitals serve a strategic and vital role in training medical, nursing, and allied15
health professionals both while attending medical school and through residency training after16
graduation; and17
WHEREAS, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSU-HSC) operates18
the medical school in New Orleans, the medical school in Shreveport, school of nursing in19
New Orleans, the dental school in New Orleans, and the school of allied health professions20
in New Orleans; and21
WHEREAS, medical education and research are related pursuits and the LSU-HSC22
asserts that academic excellence in research heightens the intellectual atmosphere, develops23
new knowledge, and transmits current information for the benefit of all Louisianians; and24
WHEREAS, the undergraduate training programs at these institutions enable students25
to become competent, caring physicians, nurses, dentists, and allied health professionals,26
most of whom remain in the state of Louisiana to practice following graduation; and27
WHEREAS, these undergraduate training programs assess and adjust to the changing28
physician workforce, as well as nursing and allied health, to meet the health care needs of29
the state as a whole.30 SR NO. 191
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana1
does hereby urge and request the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare to study the2
governance, efficiencies, and service delivery of the Louisiana State University Health Care3
Services Division and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.4
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare5
report its findings and conclusions to the Senate no later than February 1, 2013.6
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Mary Dozier O'Brien.
DIGEST
Chabert SR No.
Requests the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare to study the governance, efficiencies,
and service delivery of the Louisiana State University Health Care Services Division and the
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.