Let the hospital come to BR
New Orleans is trying to make the claim that the LSU Medical School, and all its affiliates, remain in New Orleans. This huge campus, with research and medical treatment facilities which are probably the best in the state, has undergone serious issues as it tries to rebuild after Katrina.
The state's former health care system was absolutely abused by indigent citizens who found that health care was not something they should pay for, but instead relied on the state and the Medicare and Medicaid programs (FED program) to keep them healthy.
For years myself and other medics responded to "emergency" 911 calls that were nothing more than clinic visits. We were abused greatly, both in labor and in attitude, and we had to suck it up because any complaint from any citizen would result in disciplinary action against us.
So the Charity Hospital system, which eventually became part of the LSU system, sucked up a great deal of non-payment visits and relied on the Medicare and Medicaid programs to bail them out.
This used to work ok. But now there is a very small indigent population which receives this type of financial assistance living in the New Orleans area. Physicians are now over-worked and under-paid, and they are leaving in droves.
Make no mistake- Practicing emergency medicine in New Orleans is very close to practicing medicine in the third world. It is hellacious at times, but you get to do some things that you will never see in other medical districts.
This is not just my opinion. When I worked for EMS in New Orleans the Air Force sent its pararescue jumpers to us to train more. These are guys who were in the Gulf War in the '90's. And they flat out told us they saw more shootings, stabbings, and death in a few weeks in New Orleans than they saw on tour in Iraq and Kuwait.
That is an eye-opener. We need to have an efficient hospital that can handle Level 1 Trauma in New Orleans. But that hospital does not need to be the hub of our premier medical training community.
New Orleans deserves quite a bit of help post-Katrina. But the city does not deserve EVERYTHING to come its way. The Charity Hospital system was designed to serve the citizens of LOUISIANA, not just New Orleans.
The LSU Medical School should be relocated to Baton Rouge. It should be made an integral part of the LSU University system in the same community. This would help make the flagship university of the state stronger, able to recruit more medical students, and serve one of the largest populated areas in the state. New Orleans and the surrounding area are no longer the most populous area of the state, and local and state governing officials have proven inept at making it better than it is now. We should not entrust such a vital service to the citizens of LOUISIANA to the New Orleans community. It could barely keep the service viable in good times. The hardships presented post Katrina and Rita make the task insurmountable for New Orleans leadership and its community.
Are you saying that Baton Rouge has more shootings, stabbings, and death than New Orleans, Iraq, and Kuwait?
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Actually right now it's an even race. But those factors don't make a good argument for the major learning hospital system to be only located in New Orleans. Sure, New Orleans needs a Level 1 trauma center and a burn ward. We've been living without the burn ward for decades, and the trauma center no longer exists in NEW ORLEANS. There are options in Metairie. But the fact is that New Orleans is not and will not be the most populous city in Louisiana for quite some time. It can be an auxilary campus like Shreveport, which by the way has an incredible medical learning campus which has grown large and respectable as an auxilary site.
What I'm saying is that there are certain services that do not belong in a crumbling city that can't protect and grow those services for the rest of the state, whose citizens finance those endeavors anyway. New Orleans still has the port, somehow, violating many of the rules of nature. Open the lock and dam near Alexandria and see what happens to the Mississippi River south of Morganza. This is the natural flow of the river that has been hindered to keep the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas viable waterway destinations for large cargo ships. But the Atchafalaya River could handle that traffic, through Lafayette, nearer to Houston, and without a MRGO to wash away the rest of the southern landscape.
I am all for the revitalization of New Orleans. I just feel that the rest of the state deserves help and support too. New Orleans was not the only city in Louisiana devastated by hurricanes.
ok rizzo
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Check this out:
http://drhebert.squarespace.com/journal/2007/5/23/mississippi-airlines.html
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Reloacating the LSU Medical School to Baton Rouge would be a death sentence for New Orleans economic recovery. I am from Baton Rouge and the city does not need additional beds. This is 2 separate issues, the state is using a charity system (BTW we are the only state left in the country still using this system)that is antiquated. Money following the patient has worked in every other state in the country. It hasn't worked for a long time and now it is getting attention only because of Katrina and the destruction of Big Charity. If each hospital was equally conpensated based on the amount of care to the medically vulnerable, the system would work and maybe we wouldn't end up last in the rankings of quality healthcare in the country. The medical school has been in New Orleans and taking a teaching hospital and the school away from the city would cripple the economic recovery efforts that are taking place. Healthcare is a lucritive sector for the New Orleans region....just like entertainment and tourist attractions such as the Saints, restaurants, parades and music venues also bring money to the city. You want to be able to attract high income professionals to this city and taking away the medical industry here would kill what is left of the economy here.
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Actually, statistics also show that the New Orleans region is still the largest populated area in the state per the US Census, March 2007
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Good points all. But tell me why New Orleans DESERVES the system RIGHT NOW when the city is clearly lacking economic reform leadership. Besides, when in the last 20 years have white medical students needing housing been an even remote economic generator for anyone, even themselves? Hardly.
The system could be expanded in the future to include campuses in New Orleans. But right now it is not even a viable option. Overworking and disgruntling medical students in a failing teaching and hospital environment won't lure anyone to the city, especially when the DA here is known for his predilection to arrest caregivers administering in a disaster situation.
But again, you make good points.
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You have a regional hospital at West Jefferson. It would be cheaper to employ a real ambulance service and hospital transport care to get those in need to the center. I never said the New Orleans REGION was not the most populace. I said NEW ORLEANS was not. And your census data shows data that includes illegal immigrants. Where is the economic engine in THAT population?
I am not anti-immigration reform. Indeed, I love that someone, anyone, wants to come to New Orleans to WORK. We know what the previous population tendency was.
Ok this is fun. rizzo
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