State Rep. sounds alarm about push for privatization

By J. Kojo Livingston
Contributing Writer

State Representative Roy Burrell says citizens should be alarmed about the prospects for the future privatization of LSU Health Science Center (LSUHSC), its medical school (LSUMC) and hospital affiliates, located in Shreve­port, Monroe and Alex­andria. In recent news reports, much has been published about privatizing (outsourcing) various services and management functions at these hospitals due to state budget cuts by Governor Piyush “Bobby” Jindal and the Legislature.

Burrell has called an emergency town hall meeting for his constituents in Shreveport for Monday, but insists that people need to be meeting across the state to learn what possibly could happen and to decide what to do about it. He has invited administrators and board members from the LSU System all elected officials in that area.

BURRELL

A number of services have already been privatized or outsourced at the hospitals, including environmental (janitorial and maintenance) and food services since August, 2012. Employees associated with these departments were given the option of remaining employees with the public system or move to a private provider. All future employment will be handled by the private provider according to the LSU hospital administration.

“I have had grave concerns about the future of LSU Hospital and its medical school in Shreveport since Governor Jindal and his political allies started talking about privatizing patient services and public employment. Once he started testing the public’s reaction to privatizing various public contacts in some State departments and receiving little or no public outcry, he began targeting public prisons and education. I then knew outsourcing health care was the next on the chopping block, so here we are,” said Burrell.

Rep. Burrell pointed out that the Governor is trying to dismantle public service at all cost. “The governor is claiming that he is saving the public system and the State money but has shown no verifiable proof of that. I sit on the Appropriations Committee where I have witnessed, first-hand, that much of the State’s health care is being contracted to special healthcare districts governed by private boards. These boards can subcontract to private management firms and reduce employee salaries, many of whom are minority workers transferred from the public sector.”

Burrell is concerned that many of these private contracts may have ties to the Governor and his political supporters which are not so transparent. He said that other legislators are beginning to ask questions about the convenient push for privatization of public services.

“It seems quite convenient that Dr. Alan Levine, a Jindal appointee and former head of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, abruptly resigned less than two years ago to head a private healthcare management firm. He is now back in Louisiana, calling the shots for the governor toward privatizing our public healthcare system. Something smells rotten about that,” said Burrell.

Burrell told The Louisiana Weekly that it is suspicious that the governor would use the recent federal Medicaid cutbacks to camouflage his current push for dismantling the public healthcare system. He feels that Congressional Repub­licans, along with some of our own conservative representatives from Louisiana are behind these federal cutbacks, to counter the effects of President Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act which could possibly stabilize our public healthcare system.

Burrell is calling for town hall meetings across the state “…to inform the public about the far-reaching implications of privatizing state health systems and to encourage citizens to contact all state representatives. Don’t just call your own representative or senator, call all of us. It’s that serious,” said Burrell.

This article was originally published in the September 17, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper