HJBR Mar/Apr 2023

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  MAR / APR 2023 15 five years. What motivated that move and partnership with Tulane University, and how do you envision the flagship upgrade to affect patients, staff, and New Orleans in general? Feirn For that first part, it was a natural fit for LCMC Health. As I mentioned, both LSU and Tulane were already at Children’s Hos- pital, so LSU pediatrics and Tulane pediat- rics were 100% at Children’s Hospital. We operate University Medical Center, where we work with LSU and Tulane faculty as well to train their residents. Tulane also had their own facility with a competitor in HCA. For us to bring it together was a natural fit. It continued to grow our academic relation- ships with both LSU and Tulane. The second part, and it speaks to some of the first part of the question, is that it also gave us an access point on the Northshore with Lakeview Regional Medical Center. It gave us an additional smaller access point on the inpatient side in Lakeside, out in Metairie, complementary to East Jefferson General Hospital. When we look at East Jeff, we look at UMC, we have capacity at those two facilities. This allowed us the ability to ultimately move Tulane faculty to East Jef- ferson. So now, we are operating two aca- demic medical center hubs, with LSU really focused at UMC and Tulane really focused at EJ, knowing that both organizations pro- vide services at each of those facilities and Children’s Hospital. From a continuity of care standpoint, if you have a patient seen by Tulane faculty, now, they’re all within one healthcare system, as is LSU with LCMC Health. Ultimately, we’ll all be connected on the Epic clinical record, which will also bring with it coordination of care. As we look to invest, we were already making investments in technology, infrastructure, clinical equip- ment at East Jeff. We’re going to continue to do that along with the $220 million, mak- ing better use of what will be a state-of- the-art facility in East Jeff, where Tulane will be training residents and working with Tulane faculty. For us, that makes a whole lot of sense. It’s creating centers of excellence, it’s making destination healthcare reality. We think that we’ll be making investments in some of the programs, like the solid organ transplant program at East Jeff and bone marrow transplant program, at a facility that we were making investments in. Those investments, along with the exceptional clinical care we get from all of our physi- cians including from LSU and Tulane, are what moves us from last to first. That’s what we’re focused on. Editor What will happen to the current facility that was Tulane Medical Center? Feirn Ultimately, Tulane University will repurpose that infrastructure, for one, to start a nursing school, which we certainly know how much that is needed. I believe they’ll use that space to continue their research expansion. I think what’s great about our transaction is that Tulane is not leaving downtown New Orleans. They’re investing in downtown NewOrleans, along with partnering with LCMC Health. Tulane University will continue their growth and research by making significant invest- ments in the old Charity Hospital facility. I think they have a $600 million investment planned over the next several years focused on research. I think where LCMC Health plays a role in that is that LSU and Tulane need a clinical portfolio to train their residents. Now, with the depth and breadth of all of our facili- ties at LCMC Health, the clinical portfo- lio is there to attract new faculty into New Orleans. Those faculty are training the next generation of healthcare professionals. The clinical revenues help support research that will grow the New Orleans economy. We’re excited about what we’re doing with Tulane, and we’re excited about what we’re doing with LSU and the care that we’re providing at all of our facilities. When you think of West Jefferson and East Jeff, Children’s, Touro, UMC, New Orleans East, all of our clinic locations, urgent cares, etc., we believe we’re truly positioned to take care of a community and move us from last to first. Our mission, and I enjoy saying it, is health, care, and education beyond extraordinary, and the nuance there is that it’s health “comma” care, and educa- tion. It’s all part of our mission. Let’s provide great healthcare, let’s care for a community, and let’s train the next generation of health- care professionals to move our city forward. Editor Does LCMC Health have its eye on acquiring or managing other Baton Rouge area hospitals specifically or other hospi- tals in the region? Feirn LCMC Health will always look at opportunities as they arise, but at the end of the day, we’re going to do what’s right for our community, the state of Louisiana, our employees, and our physicians. I’ll go back to what makes us great — our employees and our physicians. We couldn’t do what we do every day without them. That’s what we’re going to do. Editor National Nurses United cried duo- poly with the Tulane acquisition, noting that the deal will increase Health’s local market share to 55%. They said it warrants the strictest scrutiny by the Louisiana Department of Health and wrote to Lou- isiana Attorney General, Jeff Landry. Do you think the nurses’ concerns were war- ranted, and what did the back room look like? Were you surprised by that reaction? Feirn Yeah, I think depending on the con- stituent, there were various reactions. I think what’s important is we went through reg- ulatory approval at the state level, and we were granted approval to do the transaction because it was considered to be in the best interest of the public, which is why we were issued what’s called a certificate of public advantage. When you look at the growth in healthcare systems or the size of a system, I don’t think that you can have a one-size- fits-all approach to looking at those, which is why it’s important that the state was “At LCMC Health, we are focused on workforce primarily because of the significant expense in contract labor we have. Frankly, we want those individuals to be part of our culture, be employed by us, and continue to build the culture th t we think brings that little something extra in what we do.”