USA Today Examines Dispute Among New Orleans Hospitals for Funds in Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
USA Today on Wednesday examined the future of New Orleans hospitals in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the "no-holds-barred fight" between Louisiana State University and three private hospitals over $248 million in taxpayer money for indigent patients. According to USA Today, LSU-operated Charity Hospital -- currently the "biggest indigent hospital" in southern Louisiana and the only level I trauma center in the area -- likely will not "survive as it is now," and questions remain over the reconstruction of the "beloved but outdated and chronically mismanaged facility." Before Hurricane Katrina, 51% of Charity's patients were uninsured and 32% were covered by Medicare, USA Today reports. Some at LSU maintain that Charity Hospital should become a series of primary care clinics to help modernize the indigent care system in New Orleans. A consortium of "still-functioning, patient-starved" private hospitals -- such as the Ochsner Clinic, East Jefferson General Hospital and West Jefferson Medical Center -- maintain that they should receive the federal funds to help cover ongoing losses from Hurricane Katrina. The hospitals maintain that they will "fill Charity's void" and have agreed to establish a level I trauma center. According to USA Today, the "battle" between the hospitals "promises to reshape public health in New Orleans forever" (Sternberg, USA Today, 9/28).
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