UPDATED 10:44 A.M.: AG approves Ochsner lease to operate Teche Regional

The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office has approved the lease agreement under which Ochsner Health System will operate Morgan City’s Teche Regional Medical Center.

The approval appears to end more than a year of uncertainty for the 165-bed hospital since LifePoint Health announced plans to leave its Louisiana operations after more than a decade of managing the hospital. Finding a suitable management company for the hospital was seen by officials as vital to both health care in the region and to the local economy.

The St. Mary Chamber of Commerce has announced a ribbon-cutting at the hospital Tuesday.

In a letter dated Wednesday and released Friday, Attorney General Jeff Landry said the proposed lease agreement between St. Mary Hospital Service District No. 2 and Ochsner, a major Louisiana-based health care provider, has been approved.

The letter was sent to Bill Bourgeois, the attorney for Hospital Service District No. 2, and Joanna McKay of Ochsner.

Landry set out some conditions. The parties must actually execute the agreement and submit annual reports to the AG’s Office. The reports must include
—Audited financial statements for Teche Regional
—A summary of the cost of care billed to Medicaid, Medicare, private-insurance and self-paying patients.
—Information on the quality of care.
—Information on access to care, including any significant reductions or expansions in service.
—A description of any planned acquisitions, joint ventures or partnerships by the hospital district.
—Any plans to sell Teche Regional.
—Evidence of prompt payments by Ochsner under the lease agreement.

The proposed lease agreement is for 10 years with a series of automatic five-year renewals. Ochsner would pay about $151,000 Hospital Service District No. 2 each year.

Ochsner would agree to maintain 24-hour emergency services, lab service, imaging, and primary care and physician clinic services.

The agreement also contains a list of services that the district would be able to require Ochsner to provide, although the district would have to make up the differ-ence if those services lose money. Those services include endoscopy and other ambulatory or outpatient surgical services; general, gynecological, ophthalmic and orthopedic surgery; inpatient behavioral health treatment; obstetrical and newborn care; pediatric services; and physical, occupational and speech therapy.

Ochsner has announced plans to implement an electronic records system that would give patients access to information about their treatment.

This has been a big week for Ochsner in south Louisiana. Earlier in the week Ochsner and Lafayette General Medical Center announced their plans to merge, boosting the reach of Ocshner, already the largest private employer in Louisiana.