More money woes: Concerns raised over possible closure of Moss Memorial Clinic
Published 8:14 am Thursday, March 31, 2016
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">A state proposal to close W.O. Moss Memorial Health Clinic could have major implications for the health care system in Southwest Louisiana.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">State and local health care officials can’t say for sure what changes the proposal could bring, but the concern is the cuts could cause problems for area hospitals.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Lanny Roy, state president of Southern United Neighborhoods, said that as a paralyzed man who frequently visits the clinic for treatment he “will not let politicians put money over people’s lives.”</span>
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<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“They need to stop this horrific, demonistic proposal,” he said. “Don’t take the state’s money problems out on the disenfranchised handicapped people.”</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Jeff Reynolds, undersecretary for the state Department of Health and Hospitals, told a House budget committee on Tuesday that Louisiana likely can’t afford to operate all of its privatized LSU hospitals as it grapples with how to close a $750 million state budget shortfall for the financial year that begins July 1.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">One of the clinics affected would be Moss Memorial, which entered a public-private partnership with Lake Charles Memorial Hospital in 2013 to preserve patient services for the city’s poor.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">As part of the agreement, Moss’ inpatient and emergency services were moved to Memorial’s Oak Park campus. The clinic provides asthma, gynecology, hypertension, infectious disease, chemotherapy, dermatology, ophthalmology, rheumatology and pharmacy services, along with minor procedures.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Rep. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles and a member of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, said that if the clinic closes, the trickle-down effect on other hospitals in Southwest Louisiana would be devastating.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“This is just a proposal; we don’t know if it’s going to happen,” Abraham said. “But they have to propose a budget.”</span>
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<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Abraham said the proposal would defund cooperative endeavour agreements in Lake Charles, Bogalusa, Houma, Alexandria and Monroe. Lafayette, Shreveport and Baton Rouge would not be affected.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He said that if Lake Charles Memorial loses out on the funding, there is a chance it would have to close its emergency room.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“I’m not going to say it is going to happen because that’s a board decision, but it’s a strong possibility when you lose funding of that magnitude,” he said. “A lot of the uninsured patients that they were getting paid for they would not be getting paid for.”</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Abraham is a member of Lake Charles Memorial board of directors.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Tens of millions of dollars of services they perform would not be covered under Medicaid,” he said. “If the state does not pay them, then they might have to close the emergency room down. Then the patients will have to go to the other hospitals like West Cal and Christus St. Patrick.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Then if they get overloaded with these uninsured patients coming to their emergency rooms and hospitals and they don’t get paid for it, either, then they might not be able to keep their emergency rooms open because the cost burden would be too much.”</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Abraham said residents across the state could see similar repercussions in their areas.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“We’re definitely concerned about vital services,” Abraham said. “We can’t cut vital services. We’re trying to cut expenses, and I agree we need to cut expenses in government. But at the same time we cannot cut vital services, either.”</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Roy agrees.</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Bobby Jindal was wrong when he was governor to privatize these hospitals, and it would be wrong of Gov. John Bel Edwards to allow Moss Regional to close,” Roy said. “It’s horrific.”</span>
<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Lake Charles Memorial CEO Larry Graham and the Louisiana Hospital Association did not wish to comment on the DHH proposal.</span>
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