River Parishes Hospital in LaPlace, La., has agreed to join New Orleans-based Ochsner Health System.
Under the agreement between Ochsner and the hospital's current parent company, Brentwood, Tenn.-based LifePoint Hospitals, Ochsner will run River Parishes as an outpatient medical facility, with a focus on emergency, outpatient diagnostic and primary care services. The health system will work with other hospitals it has partnered with in the region to meet needs for surgery and inpatient services.
The acquisition is expected to be finalized by Nov. 1. Approximately 60 percent of the hospital's full-time staff will be let go by the time the transaction is complete and the hospital stops offering inpatient services, David Gaines, Ochsner's vice president of public affairs, told The Times-Picayune. Mr. Gaines also said the hospital has struggled because of declining volumes of only 10 to 12 overnight patients per day.