Health care is built on trust.
Patients trust physicians with their lives. Families trust hospitals during some of the most difficult moments they will ever face. Communities trust the leaders of those institutions to provide the vision, resources and accountability necessary to deliver quality care.
Today, that trust has been badly shaken in Lincoln Parish.
Over the past year, residents have watched one troubling development after another unfold at North Louisiana Medical Center and Green Clinic. The Louisiana Department of Health documented significant deficiencies at NLMC. Lawsuits alleging serious failures in patient care have been filed against the hospital. Publicly reported tax liens and financial concerns have raised additional questions. Physicians have left. Nurses have left. Other medical professionals and staff members have left. The result is a level of uncertainty and frustration that has spread well beyond the walls of either facility.
Any one of those issues would demand attention. Taken together, they demand accountability.
Let’s be equally clear about what this editorial is not.
It is not an attack on the physicians, nurses, therapists, technicians, office personnel or countless other employees who continue to care for patients every day. Many are working under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. They are the people who answer the call at 2 a.m., comfort anxious families, treat emergencies and continue showing up despite the uncertainty surrounding them. They deserve our appreciation, not our criticism.
This is a leadership issue at the highest level.
When someone owns the primary hospital and largest physician group in a community, responsibility ultimately rests with that person. Ownership is about more than assets and balance sheets. It carries a responsibility to the people whose lives depend on those institutions.
That responsibility belongs to Rock Bordelon.
Mr. Bordelon, Lincoln Parish residents deserves to hear directly from you.
Not through consultants.
Not through attorneys.
Not through prepared statements.
Not through social media comments.
Directly from you.
Your hospital is more than a business. Green Clinic is more than a medical practice. Together, they represent the backbone of health care in this parish. They influence where families choose to live, where businesses choose to invest, whether physicians decide to practice here and whether patients feel confident seeking care close to home.
When confidence reaches this point, silence is not leadership.
The people of Lincoln Parish deserve answers. They deserve to know why so many physicians, nurses and employees have left over the past year. They deserve to know what is being done to recruit and retain quality medical professionals. They deserve to know how the deficiencies identified by state inspectors are being addressed. They deserve to know how you intend to restore confidence in these institutions and ensure they provide the level of care this community expects.
Most importantly, they deserve to know your plan.
Hold a public town hall. Stand before the people of Lincoln Parish. Answer their questions openly and honestly. Explain where these institutions stand today, where they are headed tomorrow and what benchmarks you will use to measure success. Listen to the concerns of employees, patients and families who have invested their trust in the organizations you own.
No one in this parish wants North Louisiana Medical Center or Green Clinic to fail. Quite the opposite.
We want a hospital that attracts outstanding physicians and retains exceptional nurses. We want a physician group that continues to recruit talented providers. We want employees who are proud to build careers here. Most of all, we want families to feel confident that excellent health care is available in their own community.
That future is still possible.
But trust cannot be rebuilt through silence.
Leadership is not measured by ownership alone. It is measured by accountability, transparency and the willingness to face difficult questions when confidence has been lost.
Mr. Bordelon, the people of Lincoln Parish are waiting.
It’s time to show up. It’s time to answer their questions. And it’s time to tell this community how you intend to earn back its trust.
This is an editorial from the publishers of the Lincoln Parish Journal (Malcolm Butler, Kyle & Judith Roberts).
