Management of the state-owned safety-net hospitals in north Louisiana could soon be changing hands.
Southeast Louisiana-based Ochsner Health System has tentatively agreed to take over day-to-day oversight of the Shreveport and Monroe facilities from BRF.
The move announced Tuesday by Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration is aimed at ending years of disputes over operations of the facilities.
The Edwards administration and LSU, which previously managed the hospitals, sent breach-of-contract notification letters to BRF in September claiming the hospital manager wasn't following contract terms.
Officials hope striking an agreement with Ochsner will remedy the complaints.
The paperwork signed so far with Ochsner are non-binding "letters of intent" that spell out plans for the management transfer. The official contract terms remain to be completed, and the exact transition date isn't yet set.