Battle for partnership of St. Charles Hospital
St. Charles Parish Hospital CEO Fred Martinez seemed shocked to learn that the chief administrator of West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero wants a chance to present a proposal to parish officials before an agreement to partner with Ochsner Health System is finalized.
Martinez plans to lease the facility to Ochsner and bring in physician specialists to provide advanced care services to residents. He hopes the project will bring in more money to the financially-struggling facility.
“I wasn’t aware that West Jefferson was interested in pursuing an agreement with our hospital,” Martinez said. “Ochsner is a natural fit for us and we are planning to lease the hospital to them. I’m not sure if West Jefferson is willing to do a lease or if they can even afford it financially.”
A letter of consideration was sent to Parish Council Chairman Dennis Nuss from Nancy Cassagne, the CEO of West Jefferson Medical Center.
In the letter, Cassagne says she is prepared to form a lease agreement with the hospital. She sent the letter to Nuss before contacting Martinez because he is the chairman over the Special Projects/Public Safety, Health and Environmental Committee.
“We can offer the same services,” she wrote. “I’m currently working on arranging meetings with both parish and hospital officials, but I haven’t officially contacted the hospital yet.”
Martinez says he’s not sure if West Jefferson is financially stable enough to make the same agreement he’s already established with Ochsner.
“As far as I know that hospital (West Jefferson) has had some financial troubles,” he said. “However, I haven’t contacted any other hospital except for Ochsner when I decided to come up with the collaboration plan.”
Martinez said that he was disappointed that he wasn’t notified about West Jefferson’s plans before the Parish Council was contacted.
Although the council has been contacted, Martinez hopes the members will support his decision to choose Ochsner.
“A great deal of our residents go to Ochsner for specialty services already,” Martinez said. “So, collaborating with them would be a better plan for us.”
In the letter to Nuss, Cassagne said that as a service district hospital, West Jefferson Medical Center is “certainly positioned to address the community needs of St. Charles Parish just as it has provided community care to the West Bank of Jefferson Parish for almost 50 years. We haven’t ever done collaboration like this before,” Cassagne said. “It would be a new venture for us.”
Cassagne believes that because of the close proximity of the two hospitals, an alliance with her facility would be a good partnership for the St. Charles Parish community.
“I believe we already have a natural partnership that we can build upon together,” she wrote. “We are prepared to provide primary care and specialty services, as well as collaboration on group purchasing, to achieve additional revenues and enhanced savings for both of our hospitals.”
Cassagne said she learned about the collaboration though various media outlets and plans to present her proposal before something is finalized.
Ochsner most recently partnered with St. Anne’s Hospital in Raceland.
Dr. Patrick Quinlan, CEO of the Ochsner Clinic Foundation, pledged to make a multi-year commitment and invest millions of dollars into revitalizing St. Anne, potentially eliminating the need for further parish support, according to a press release from the hospital.
Ochsner is a non-profit teaching hospital, which includes a 473-bed acute care hospital and sub-acute facility. Ochsner employs over 600 physicians in 80 medical specialties and subspecialties. It has 24 clinics throughout southeast Louisiana, as well as 750 ongoing clinical research trials annually.
West Jefferson Medical Center is a 462-bed hospital and was ranked among the nation’s top 50 hospitals, according to U.S. News and World Report, in the specialty areas of rheumatology and respiratory disorders in 2001.
Parish Council members will have the final vote of approval on all plans for the hospital.
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