Death panels

 Always grateful to be living here under the Best Healthcare System In The World. 

The city’s death statistics reveal an aberration, ProPublica found. Nationally, coronavirus patients aged 85 and older died at home only 4% of the time, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; local coroner records show that in New Orleans, it was 17%. Reporters attempted to contact the families of everyone who died at home there.

The interviews revealed a striking pattern: Before they died, about two dozen patients first sought care at a hospital, which then discharged them, in many cases sending them home to die with hospice care. All were Black. The vast majority came from Ochsner Health, the largest hospital network in Louisiana, which treated 60% of the region’s critically ill coronavirus patients.

The families of eight patients, as young as 69, told ProPublica that Ochsner staff pressured them into accepting hospice care for their loved ones who had COVID-19, even as some questioned or pushed back against the suggestion. Three families said they were told that there wasn’t enough space to continue treating the patient in the hospital, or that the hospital needed the bed for another patient.

Feed them all to Ochsner

Eventually there will just be one hospital.

In a move that would result in the largest health system in the Gulf South, Lafayette General Health System announced Wednesday it is seeking a merger with Ochsner Health System.

The board of trustees of both health systems signed a letter of intent for the merger Wednesday morning, Lafayette General announced. Both organizations will now enter into a period of due diligence and seek required regulatory approvals, which could take several months.

Why does this keep happening? The answer is classic disaster capitalism.

There's a perpetual ebb and flow in Louisiana where Bobby Jindal type grifters wreck the state budget followed by John Bel type bi-partisan dads who stabilize things by institutionalizing the damage to basic services.  First the disaster, then the normalization of its destruction.   Following along in the wake of these shocks is Ochsner which appears to be on pace to eat every hospital in the state.  By the time it arrives on the scene, though, it looks to everyone like a savior. 

The move was partially prompted by a "wake up call" after last year's state budget situation. A reduction in state funding forced Lafayette General to consider reducing services at University Hospitals and Clinics, to include possible closure of the hospital.

Lafayette General operates University Hospitals and Clinics as part of a public-private partnership that stopped it from being closed in 2012. Callecod said the merger will allow LGH to negotiate with the state for funding from a much stronger position.

"We very much as a system are at the whim of the legislature, and so certainly we do everything we can to make folks understand the great work we do there, but the reality is that this merger will allow us to be in a better position with the state as we're having those conversations because of Ochsner's reach throughout the state," Callecod said

Surprise surprise not at all

Nobody could have predicted that the hospital fight was all about Tulane wanting more control over things and Ochsner wanting a piece of that. Except some of us said so over and over again to no avail but whatever.

Ochsner controls a huge portion of the local hospital market. And while neither side would speak on camera, or confirm or deny whether a deal is in the works, they do say they are each looking at other partnerships.

A statement issued by Tulane says "in the age of health care reform and a changing marketplace, such discussions are common. Tulane said that its conversations with potential partners have been ongoing for years and are only at the fact-finding stage.

Ochsner said it "won't comment on hypothetical business arrangements" but that it "regularly evaluates partnerships and collaborations" as it looks at costs, patient health outcomes and the overall health care system.

The last time a change for Tulane Medical Center was in the news was when Senator David Vitter, State Treasurer John Kennedy and House Speaker Jim Tucker proposed the state abandon plans for part of the new 424-bed teaching hospital (UMC) in favor of a deal with Tulane Medical Center. This afternoon Vitter's office said he has not been involved in the latest Ochsner-Tulane discussions.

David Vitter says he had nothing to do with it. Riiiiight. If you believe that I've got a nice... I don't know let's say slightly used Canal Street real estate... to sell you.