Possible tax proposition on Hospital Service District agenda

A possible 5.5-mill property tax is on the agenda for discussion at Wednesday's St. Mary Parish Hospital Service District No. 2 board meeting.

The district's board will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Morgan City Court building, 7162 La. 182 East.

At last month's meeting, the board raised the possibility of imposing a new property tax in hopes of maintaining labor and delivery services at Ochsner St. Mary in Morgan City.

The district owns the hospital, which Ochsner Health has operated under lease since 2019.

In March, Ochsner announced that it would end labor and delivery services at the Morgan City hospital April 1. The company pointed to demographic trends toward an aging population with slower growth in the number of women of child-bearing age.

The hospital delivers the lowest number of babies among 66 institutions that report to the Louisiana Hospital Association, the company said.

Ochsner is consolidating labor and delivery services in its Bayou Region at Ochsner St. Anne in Raceland.

The announcement led to publicly expressed concerns that women with medical emergencies related to childbirth could be endangered by the longer drives require required to reach hospitals in Raceland, Franklin, Houma or Thibodaux. There is also fear that pediatric services would also end at Ochsner St. Mary.

At one public meeting after the announcement, Morgan City Mayor Lee Dragna raised the possibility of bringing back a Hospital Service District property tax. Fernis LeBlanc, the CEO for Ochsner's Bayou Region, said Ochsner is willing to work with the district to explore ways to keep labor and delivery services at the hospital.

You can download a .pdf version of the agenda at the link below.