Members of the regional health consortia shall serve without compensation.  Non-legislative members may receive reimbursement from the entity they represent if allowable by the entity.   Legislative members shall receive the same per diem and travel reimbursement as is normally provided for members of the legislature for attendance at meetings by the rules of the respective chamber.

The public is welcome to attend and observe working meetings of the Panel.  Your questions and comments are welcome and we encourage each participant to utilize the comment cards provided at the registration desk.  Questions and/ or comments will be reviewed and posted on the web site for viewing by the general public.

Yes.  All meetings of the consortia are subject to the open meetings law, La. R.S. 42:4.1 et seq., and each regional consortium shall seek to draw the public into the discussions of health care in each region. All questions and comments are welcome and all interested citizens are encouraged to attend.

The decision to combine roles must be made by the consortium members. 

SCR 95 specifies that consortia members shall be selected by plurality vote of each region’s legislative delegation.

This web site will provide access to all reports, presentations, minutes and comments that are received by the consortia.

Each regional consortium chair shall be responsible for identifying an entity to which citizens may call to get additional information and/or select a site where interested consumers may receive information, status reports, etc.

The success of the consortium will be dependent not only on individual commitment and participation but on those tangible contributions such as facilities for meetings, avenues for dissemination of information, meetings schedules throughout the region, etc.

Members of the consortia shall serve staggered terms of one to three years to be chosen by lot at the first meeting.

Each regional consortium is responsible for developing a report to the Governor’s Health Care Reform Panel by January 1, 2005 that addresses the following areas: 

• Challenges facing the uninsured, Medicaid, Medicare and privately insured population in each region;
• Health care needs of each region, particularly children, elderly, those with developmental disabilities, those with mental illness and those with addictive disorders;
• Important gaps in the availability of health care services within the region;
• Any changes that should be implemented to improve the health care and health care delivery within the region; and
• Health care funding priorities for the region. 

The consortia are also required to submit a written report no less than annually, on January 1 of each subsequent year in effect, and report at any time at the request of the Governor’s Health Care Reform Panel.

(1) Overall understanding of the state of the state for Louisiana.

(2) Identification of critical issues that need to be addressed not present in the Department’s recommendations.

(3) Identification of work groups to be established.

(4) Identification of quick successes not addressed in the Department’s recommendations.

The consortia are legislatively mandated regional health care planning groups comprised of individuals who are civic and organizational leaders, health care industry and stakeholders, and members of existing regional efforts relating to health care services and delivery.  There will be nine consortia established, one in each region aligning itself with the same parishes as the DHH regional structure.

The consortia shall be responsible for: 

• Providing a forum for open discussion and feedback that ensures the Stakeholders from all areas of the health care system and interested civic and governmental leaders are involved in the regional health care consortia process.
• Studying and discussing the state of health and health care in their region and make recommendations for change;
• Developing recommendations that will support change in the organization and structure of the delivery of and access to health care in each region.
• Presenting recommendations to the Governor’s Health Care Reform Panel.

The Department of Health and Hospitals has utilized the information that was collected and disseminated before, during and after the statewide Health Care Summit to prepare suggestions for improving access and delivery of health care in Louisiana.  The report provides recommendations in six major areas which includes:

Focus Area A - Providing Care to the Uninsured

Focus Area B - Access to Appropriate Health Care Resources

Focus Area C - Improve and Restructure Long Term Care

Focus Area D - Health Education and Awareness

Focus Area E - Improved Administrative Delivery of Health Care

Focus Area F - Focus on Performance Outcomes Using Evidence Based Principles

The purpose of the regional health care consortia is to help facilitate the development of a more dynamic state-local partnership that will support change in organizing and structuring the delivery of and access to health care in not only their respective region, but also in Louisiana as a whole.

These are two separate groups with two distinct responsibilities.

The regional representative on the Governor’s Health Care Reform Panel was selected by the Governor as a representative from a specific region to discuss statewide issues addressed by the Panel, not the affiliation/entity in which they belong.

The chair of each regional consortium will be responsible for convening and overseeing all consortium meetings and to ensure stakeholders from all areas of the health care system and interested civic and governmental leaders have an opportunity to provide their input and recommendations; for providing as necessary feedback to the members and the public on issues addressed in the meetings; and for overseeing the development of and reporting to the Governor’s Panel on the region’s health care challenges and concerns, recommendations for change, funding priorities, etc.

Each of the panel members has committed to serve for the next two years.  The panel will meet each quarter and be responsible for: 

• Reviewing the Department’s preliminary report prepared in response to input received at the Governor’s 2004 health care summit;
• Studying and discussing the state of health and health care in Louisiana and make recommendations for change;
• Being a resource by either sharing personal expertise or directing policymakers to issue-specific experts throughout the state and country; and
• Providing direction to the Department in developing and implementing objectives for the overall improvement in Louisiana’s health care system.

Region 1                Senator Diana Bajoie

                                504-568-7760

In February 2004, Governor Blanco convened regional health care summits to assess critical health care needs across the state.  At the first annual Statewide Health Care Summit held in March 2004, Governor Blanco made a commitment to formalize the work of the regional groups.  In the 2004 legislative session this regional planning council process was formalized through the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 95 sponsored by the Chairs of both the Senate and House Health and Welfare Committees.