Hospital employees at Louisiana State University’s Health Shreveport hospital will be laid off as the hospital transitions to private ownership later this fall, but they will be able to begin re-applying for their jobs starting at the beginning of August.
While much of the world has universal health care systems that rely on publicly owned or funded hospitals to treat the population, many lawmakers in the U.S. have done the opposite and pushed for an expansion of the private sector’s involvement with health care.
For example, Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced a plan in 2012 that required all of the state’s public hospitals to conduct a five-month evaluation process in which the board examined the benefits of selling or leasing the facilities. The goal was to determine whether the hospitals should be privatized.
And earlier this month, officials announced plans to privatize a center in Chicago that provided free mammography screenings for uninsured residents after the state decided to terminate the grant that paid for the service. The Illinois Nurses Association confirmed that city officials had sent letters warning the organization that layoffs would take effect as mammography services were privatized.
It is not yet known whether those medical employees in Florida and Illinois will be offered a chance to reapply for their jobs.
Starting Aug. 12, LSU Health Shreveport hospital employees will begin receiving general notice that they will be laid off as the once-public hospital transitions to its new private management. The Biomedical Research Foundation Hospital Holding Company will take control of the hospital starting Oct. 1.
The medical school attached to the hospital will remain a publicly funded endeavor and part of the LSU school system.
“All current hospital employees will be laid off on September 30 as part of the transition process and state guidelines. Those that participate in the application process and are selected for employment by the BRFHH will begin employment October 1,” said Jay Meyers, vice president of external affairs at the company, according to KSLA TV.
According to a press release, the Biomedical Research Foundation expects to fill most of the hospital positions with current hospital employees.
“Not only do we want them to apply, we need them to apply,” Steve Skrivanos, the company’s chairman of the board, said.
Skrivanos said he anticipates that about 90 percent of current hospital staff will be hired. The application process is expected to begin Aug. 5. According to a local news station, employees will have to pass routine screenings, including drug and educational screenings, in order to be eligible for employment.
Those positions that are not filled will open up to the public starting Aug. 30.
The hospital’s transition from public to private management is being blamed by some on a reduction in federal funds for Medicaid reimbursements. However, others say that the decision to privatize four LSU hospitals is part of Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan to privatize the university-run hospitals and clinics.
Since Jindal was elected governor in 2008, more than 6,000 civil service employees have been laid off in Louisiana. Jindal has reportedly targeted more than 10,000 civil service jobs for layoffs since he took office.
Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols agrees with Jindal’s decision to privatize the public hospitals, saying that by privatizing nine out of 10 public hospitals and their affiliated clinics, the state can save an estimated $100 million in the 2013-14 budget.
When the announcement about the change in hospital management was first announced in June 2013, about 4,000 state employees were laid off.
According to Jindal’s office, 86 percent of those employees at the four hospitals were rehired by the new private operators, while others chose to retire.
But Leonal Hardman, president of the local American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, told The Advocate there is no guarantee that employees will actually be rehired by the new private management.
According to The Advocate, Hardman said the former state employees may have jobs “but what kind of quality of life … We know the salaries and their benefits are not there,” and said for many of the hospital employees, “the quality of life you and your family are accustomed,” is now gone, since those who are rehired are paid less and have reduced benefits.
One of the hardest-hit hospitals was the Louisiana Children’s Medical Center. Of the roughly 2,200 employees, more than 1,900 were rehired. Many employees opted to retire, while others took large blocks of accumulated vacation time. Some just decided to find work elsewhere. But the whole ordeal resulted in the hospital having to cancel 20 percent of scheduled elective surgeries.
Brian Landry, a spokesman for the Louisiana Children’s Medical Center, said the layoff and rehiring process “created some staffing shortages.”
“We’re trying to hire staff as quickly as we can so we can get back to a full schedule for elective surgeries,” he said.
Landry said the new owners expected “some challenges in terms of staffing” as the hospital transitioned to private ownership and were doing their best to resolve the problems quickly in order to end “some spotty delays” with hospital services.