Ochsner CEO to speak in Morgan City next week

The CEO of Ochsner Health System, which is slated to become the new operator of Teche Regional Medical Center, will speak in Morgan City next week.

Warner Thomas is the guest speaker for Wednesday’s St. Mary Industrial Group luncheon meeting at the Petroleum Club of Morgan City. The meeting starts at noon and is open to public at a cost of $10 per guest. Reservations are required. To make a reservation, contact Carolyn Doiron at cdoiron@ogrsllc.com or 985-385-9868 by Monday.

Thomas said during a March 27 news conference that he was “100% confident” that the deal would be completed for Ochsner to become the operator of the Morgan City hospital.

Last month, the St. Mary Parish Hospital Service District No. 2 Board authorized Chairman Dr. Bill Cefalu to sign a negotiated lease agreement with Ochsner to operate Teche Regional Medical Center in Morgan City. Ochsner operates 14 other medical facilities in Louisiana.

The board is responsible for finding a tenant to operate the 167-bed hospital after current operator LifePoint Health of Brentwood, Tennessee, announced last year that it intended to cease operating hospitals in Louisiana.

Board Attorney Bill Bourgeois said Thursday that “everybody’s been working very hard on the transition.”

At the May board meeting, Cefalu said now that he had the authority to sign the lease with Ochsner, the board would start focusing more energy on finalizing negotiations on a legal settlement with LifePoint.