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 20 This post by blogger CB Forgotston draws parallels between Gov. Bobby Jindal and two individuals he probably doesn't want to be aligned with: President Obama and former governor Edwin Edwards. CB says Jindal's trying to jack up the debt ceiling (an Obama play, according to CB) and buy votes from GOP leges who normally wouldn't go for that (an Edwards play, CB says).
MAY 20 Here's a post in the Baptist Message from an alumnus of Louisiana College. The author, Larry Burgess, calls on the leadership of the private school to take care of some pressing problems. Physical plant issues are critical and unaddressed, some faculty make so little they need government health care, and there is an atmosphere that does not encourage honest discussion, he writes. It's time to get things back in order, he says.
MAY 20 This post in Gambit tells of a benefit concert scheduled to raise money for the 19 people shot during a Mother's Day second line on Frenchmen Street in NOLA. Among them was Gambit blogger Deb Cotton, who spoke frequently about violence in the city and reported on the city's second line culture. Gambit's foundation, along with other NOLA non-profits, also is selling t-shirts to raise money for the victims.
MAY 20 Blogger Robert Mann is critical of the personal interest some legislators take in their work here, sharing the comments one NOLA solon made in explaining his decision to vote against a bill that would require people to stop discriminating against female workers. His wife might lose some salary, so he was going to have to vote against the equal pay bill, Conrad Appel said. Appel and everyone who heard him should have been ashamed, but they weren't, and that's what is wrong in that building, Mann argues.
MAY 20 American Press columnist Jim Beam writes about the budget again here, urging kudos for the House and its efforts to try to fix the budget as opposed to passing on a flawed and messy rubber-stamped document as it usually does. The Senate already is poo-pooing the effort, but instead Senators should be trying to find a way to improve it as well, Beam argues. He also has some predictions in here from LABI and CABL.
MAY 20 Here's a link to the photo gallery from Tulane's graduation this past weekend. Dr. John and Allen Toussaint played together and received honorary degrees. The Dalai Lama was so entranced by their performance he got up from his seat and walked across the stage to stand next to them. He even participated in a second line with his own personal, saffron-colored umbrella. To the graduates, he urged them to think about creating a peaceful, hopeful life and society.
MAY 20 This Picayune story questions the rhetoric of NOLA officials who say the city, aside from having a "murder problem," is safe. The talking points generally are that the criminals are killing each other, but everything else is OK. The police chief there says that even Lafayette is more dangerous than NOLA. But crime experts interviewed here say that NOLA's numbers indicate one of two things: either people are so used to violence they don't report it, or somebody's "fudging the numbers."
MAY 20 The Advocate's Mark Ballard writes about some of the background maneuvering that took place during the development of budget alternatives in the Legislature. From Rep. Joel Robideaux being called a "tax and spend liberal" to robo-call influence, Ballard lets us in on some of the work that happens behind the scenes but usually doesn't make it into the Advocate's daily coverage of the session.
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