HSD chairman: Hospital talks going well

At a Wednesday meeting dominated by a long closed-door session, the head of the St. Mary Hospital Service District No. 2 board assured the audience that negotiations to find a new company to operate Teche Regional Medical Center are moving forward.
“I think things are certainly in a lot better place and making positive steps,” Chairman Bill Cefalu said.
The board is simultaneously negotiating two deals. One is about the exit of LifePoint Health, which has operated the 167-bed hospital under a lease with the district since 2005. LifePoint assumed the remainder of a 40-year lease from another company.
LifePoint, based in Nashville, is pulling out of its Louisiana operations.
An exit settlement “has not been finalized,” Cefalu said, “but we’re working toward that.”
At one point last year, the board was threatening legal action to keep LifePoint in place until a new management company would be found. But Wednesday, Cefalu said LifePoint is being cooperative.
The board has settled on Ochsner Health Systems as a potential replacement for LifePoint.
Ochsner is based in Jefferson Parish and operates a dozen hospitals and clinics in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Ochsner’s transition team “is looking at all aspects, all strategies to not only make our hospital viable but to flourish over time,” Cefalu said.
The board moved last month to provide engineering, architectural and equipment assessments of Teche Regional.
Most of the board discussions about the negotiations have occurred in executive sessions.