Lafourche council to attempt to place physician on hospital board

The Lafourche Parish Council will vote on an ordinance at next Tuesday’s council meeting that could amend the way commissioners are appointed to the Hospital Service District No. 1 Board.

Councilman Philip Gouaux introduced the proposed ordinance at the July 13 council meeting, and the council was set to vote on it last Tuesday, until Councilman Louis Richard suggested the measure be tabled so certain aspects could be clarified.

If approved, the amendment will allow Lady of the Sea’s medical staff to nominate one of the five people on the Hospital Service District No. 1 Board. That nominee would represent the 10th ward.

The parish council would have the option to ratify that person.

The issue arose in late April, when the council amended an ordinance requiring councilmen in Districts 7, 8 and 9 to supply Lady of the Sea’s medical staff with names of candidates for the board position. In turn, the board would whittle the list to one person, which the district councilman would submit before the parish council for a vote.

The process, however, could arguably exclude Lady of the Sea physicians from the list of people considered for the post.

“It is very important that we have a liaison between the hospital board and the medical staff,” Lady of the Sea Hospital physician William Crenshaw said.

The call for a change in the nominating process came to a head at the parish council’s June 22 meeting when Gouaux submitted Jamie Pitre as his nominee for the hospital board, even though the hospital staff suggested Barry Orgeron for the slot.

Pitre was unanimously appointed by the council, replacing Dr. Sharm El’ Buras.

Had Gouaux submitted Orgeron’s name, his district would have been left without representation.

Pitre’s appointment gave the board representation from all three districts in the 10th Ward, but left the hospital without a representative on the board, leaving Gouaux to admit, “I messed up.”

Accepting some of the blame as well, Councilman Rodney Doucet originally supported Pitre’s nomination in his ongoing battle to give all 10th Ward boards equal representation, but has since said hospital representation should have taken precedence.

“When we voted to pick another person to represent the doctor’s staff, that’s like telling the doctors go ahead and make a recommendation, but we’re still going to pick who we want,” Doucet explained. “They looked at the resumes and they interviewed the people and decided who they wanted. That should have stayed. If you’re not going to take the [person] the medical staff has chosen, then why even involve the medical staff and pick it yourself? We did wrong.”

Gouaux’s solution will ensure the hospital staff one of the board nominations. To fill the four remaining board seats, the council would appoint a representative from District 7, 8 and 9, respectively, and an at-large representative from any of the three districts.

The current ordinance calls for the four board seats be filled with two northern and two southern Ward 10 appointees.

According to Gouaux, under this system, any of the three districts could be left without representation.

“This is a more fair and equitable way that forces the council to choose one person out of each district and forces the council to select somebody that the medical staff has agreed they want to represent them,” he said.

Gouaux said current board members would finish their term before any modification takes effect.