Discussions ongoing with private healthcare firms after LSU cuts

A week after $152 million in cuts were levied across the LSU public hospitals, Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein said Thursday that no new, formal arrangements have yet been reached with private hospitals to pick up the care. But he and LSU hospitals chief Frank Opelka said in a joint interview that they're having solid discussions with private health care facilities to identify ways they might collaborate on services and medical training programs or possibly take over management of a university hospital. "We're working community by community, market by market, hospital by hospital to identify partners," Greenstein said.