The creator of a new Facebook page set up to "save UMC of Lafayette jobs" has a story that's not unlike the countless other patients who receive treatment every year at various UMC clinics, several of which are in danger of shuttering due to mid-year budget cuts from the state.
The mother of a 5-year-old boy, the new Facebook page's administrator tells the social networking world that her son is receiving treatments at UMC for "severe speech and sensory issues ... and he's making progress."
"But if treatment is halted now, it will totally jeopardize his future!! It is imperative to keep these units open and going!!!" proclaims the unidentified mother, whose "Save UMC of Lafayette Jobs" page is up to 55 fans as of Thursday morning.
News of impending layoffs reached the more than 900 UMC employees last week, when the LSU Health System announced that it will be forced slash $29 million from its budget.
The cuts will impact seven charity hospitals statewide and could mean the loss of 80-100 employees at UMC as well as the hospital's obstetricians, neonatal ICU unit, ophthalmology department and ENT services.
UMC's Pediatric Clinic was also on the chopping block, but hospital administrator Larry Dorsey says he is hopeful that the 6,000 children seen every year through pediatrics can be shifted to the family medicine department to avoid completely cutting critical services to children.
Other departments, like the ENT clinic, could be completely eliminated, raising profound concerns from the unit's resident medical students and nurses who say that the high number of late-stage cancer and tumor patients seen at the clinic "will literally die because they have no where else to go."
The Facebook page encourages its fans to contact area lawmakers and take other steps to save UMC's clinics.
Click here for a brief overview on the potential cuts at UMC.
For more in-depth coverage on what the UMC cuts will mean for Acadiana, check out The Ind's Feb. 1 edition.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
Most Read
in case you missed it
Subscribe to this comment's feed