Plans to shift many LSU residency programs to private hospitals will result in a better ratio of patients per resident, medical school officials told students Tuesday. (Photo by Times-Picayune archive)

LSU medical school officials told students and faculty Tuesday night that changes to resident training under way as part of the budget slashing at the state's public hospital system will eventually make the programs more attractive to prospective residents. At a "town hall" meeting at the medical school in New Orleans, Dr. Larry Hollier, chancellor of the LSU Health Sciences Center, said the shrinking of the public hospitals in recent years has led to residents having too few hospitalized patients to treat under the supervision of attending physicians.

But plans to shift many residency programs to private hospitals will result in a better ratio of patients per resident, he said. Hollier said that even before the most recent cuts, which were announced last week, the number of patients in the public hospitals had shrunk to unacceptably low levels. "The only reason that residents still got such good training is because of the work of the faculty," he said.

Hollier said when he was a resident at Charity Hospital, there were 1,500 beds available, but the number of beds hadshrunk to 550 before Hurricane Katrina. With the latest budget cuts, there will be 150 beds at the Interim LSU Public Hospital, better known as University Hospital, whichtook over providing care for the indigent in New Orleans afterthe closure of Charity Hospital following the storm.

The popularity of Louisiana's programs to train new doctors is considered critically important, as many physicians choose to stay in the state where they complete their residencies.

The most recent cuts to LSU's seven hospitals in south Louisiana were the result of a reduction in the federal Medicaid dollars sent to the state. Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration directed a large share of the cuts at the LSU hospitals, which state officials said would provide an opportunity to remake the system that has traditionally provided the health care safety net for the uninsured.

Dr. Frank Opelka, the newly appointed head of the LSU health system, said he and Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein are working on agreements with private hospitals to take over some services that have been reduced or eliminated.

But legislators who learned the details of the $152 million cut last weekhave questioned whether the reductions will result in the most vulnerable uninsured patients going without necessary medical care as hospital beds disappear and some LSU clinics close or limit hours. State officials have provided few details about what the partnerships with private hospitals will look like, saying those plans are largely still in the works.

Hollier said about half of the patients treated by the LSU hospitals and clinics are covered by Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance. As residency programs move to private hospitals, doctors in the LSU-run clinics will have better availability for insured patients needing surgery or other hospital-based care, he said.

Some in the audience asked whether the uninsured would be left out as a result of the budget cuts and more residencies moving to private facilities. "I feel like we are abandoning our population," said one woman, who identified herself as a second-year medical student.

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LSU budget slashing could work in our favor, medical school officials tell students